Chlorobenzene Removal Using DBD Coupled with CuO/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst

The removal of chlorobenzene using a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor coupled with CuO/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts was investigated in this paper. The coupling of CuO enhanced the chlorobenzene degradation and complete oxidation ability of the DBD reactor, especially under low voltage conditions. The characterization of catalyst was carried out to understand the interaction between catalyst and plasma discharge. The effects of flow rate and discharge power on the degradation of chlorobenzene and the interaction between these parameters were analyzed using the response surface model (RSM). The analysis of variance was applied to evaluate the significance of the independent variables and their interactions. The results show that the interactions between flow rate and discharge power are not negligible for the degradation of chlorobenzene. Moreover, based on the analysis of byproducts, 4-chlorophenol was discriminated as the important intermediate of chlorobenzene degradation, and the speculative decomposition mechanism of chlorobenzene is explored.