Direct decomposition technique for NO in O2-N2 mixture using barrier discharge and Cu zeolite

A new method of increasing the efficiency of NO direct decomposition in an O-2-N-2 mixture using barrier discharge and copper ion-exchanged ZSM-5 zeolites (Cu-ZSM-5) is proposed. After NO is adsorbed on Cu-ZSM-5 in a flow with 200 ppm NO, 9% O-2, and N-2, the Cu-ZSM-5 with adsorbed NO is treated with a barrier-discharge plasma in N-2. The reaction N + NO --> N-2 + O increases because of the high concentration of NO on the surface of Cu-ZSM-5. As a result of the discharge, NO decomposition efficiency is about 37%, and NO2 and N2O generation efficiencies are only 5% and 4%, respectively, These results show that this technique enables low oxidation and high direct decomposition of NO in an O-2-N-2 mixture.