Dielectric barrier discharge in a two-phase mixture

This paper reports the experimental investigation of the dielectric barrier discharge in which the gap area is filled with a two-phase mixture (TPM), air and solid particles. We found that there are two kinds of discharges in the TPM. One is the surface discharge generated on the surface of the solid particles and the other is the filament discharge generated in the air void. For the case of low volume fraction of solid particles, the surface discharge starts to occur when the applied voltage is higher than the onset voltage. At a further voltage increase, the filament discharge takes place at the same time. For the case of high volume fraction, such as the packed-bed reactor, only the surface discharge exists. Under the condition of the same volume fraction, the larger the diameter of the solid particles, the lower the surface discharge onset voltage. As a conclusion, we think that the plasma reactor using the form of low volume fraction of solid particles may be a better choice for waste-gas treatment enhanced by catalysts.