Effect of Humidity on Toluene Decomposition in Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reaction

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was used to produce non-thermal plasma, and the effect of humidity on toluene decomposition studied. In addition, the effect of humidity under different background gases and with/without catalyst on toluene removal was studied. It was found that when no catalyst existed and the background gas was N₂ containing 5.00% O₂, the optimum humidity was 0.20%. When the oxygen content in the background gas was very low(0.05％O₂) or when a catalyst was introduced into the discharge area, adding water would decrease the toluene removal efficiency. However, when the oxygen content was high enough(≥5.00%), the situation tend to be reversed.