Efficiency, products and mechanisms of ethyl acetate oxidative degradation in air non-thermal plasma

Ethyl acetate (EA) is a popular solvent and diluent in many products and one of the most ubiquitous organic pollutants of indoor air. Although EA's ascertained toxicity is classified as low, exposure to its vapors at concentrations ⩾400 ppm causes serious problems in humans. EA is thus a frequent target in testing novel technologies for air purification. We report here an investigation of EA oxidative degradation in air at room temperature and atmospheric pressure induced by corona discharges. Three corona regimes, dc−, dc+ and pulsed +, were tested in the same reactor under various experimental conditions with regard to EA initial concentration (C0) and the presence of humidity in the system. The EA degradation process was monitored by gas chromatography (GC)–flame ionization detection, GC–mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of the treated gas. These analyses yielded the concentration of residual EA (C) and those of its major products of oxidation (CO2, CO) and revealed a few organic reaction intermediates formed along the oxidation chain. The process energy efficiency was determined as energy constant, kE (kJ−1 l) and as energy yield, EY (g kW−1 h−1). The efficiency depends on the type of corona (pulsed + >dc− >dc+), on the presence of humidity in the air (improvement in the case of dc−, little or no effect for dc+) and on C0 (kE increases linearly with 1/C0). CO2 and CO were the major carbon containing products, confirming the strong oxidizing power of air non-thermal plasma. Acetic acid and acetaldehyde were detected in very small amounts as reaction intermediates. The experimental results obtained in this work support the conclusion that different reactive species are involved in the initial step of EA oxidation in the case of dc− and dc+ corona air non-thermal plasma.