Characterization of a novel volume-surface DBD reactor: discharge characteristics, ozone production and benzene degradation

Surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD) is very efficient for the production of reactive species to degrade gaseous pollutants, but the streamer propagation only along the dielectric surface limits the gas treatment capacity. In our experiments, an additional ground electrode pasted on a dielectric was arranged over the surface electrode to form a hybrid volume-surface DBD (V-SDBD) configuration for enlarging the spatial distribution of discharge plasma. The current waveforms, discharge images and power measurements indicate that the V-SDBD configuration produced more steamer channels and induced the development of discharge filaments towards the air gap, leading to more production of ozone and higher benzene degradation efficiency compared to SDBD configuration. At the conditions of 16 kV applied voltage, 2.8 mm air gap spacing and 1 l min−1 air flow rate, the ozone concentration and benzene degradation efficiency of V-SDBD configuration were 3.45 times and 2.15 times that of SDBD configuration, respectively, which may be contributed to the enhanced electric discharge and the enlarged spatial plasma distribution in V-SDBD device compared to SDBD device.