WO2008055337A1

WO2008055337A1 - Apparatus and method for destroying organic compounds in commercial and industrial large volume air emissions

Info

Publication number: WO2008055337A1
Application number: PCT/CA2006/001837
Authority: WO
Inventors: Douglas P. Lanz
Original assignee: Air Phaser Environmental Ltd
Current assignee: Air Phaser Environmental Ltd
Priority date: 2006-11-08
Filing date: 2006-11-08
Publication date: 2008-05-15
Anticipated expiration: 2009-05-08
Also published as: EP2083934A4; JP2010510871A; EP2083934A1; AU2006350546A1

Abstract

A Non-Thermal Plasma (NTP) and Integral Catalyst System (ICS) is used to neutralize Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and/or Halogenated Volatile Organic Compounds (HVOC), some of which are also odorous and/or fine organic particulate (smoke) emissions released into the environment by commercial and/or industrial air streams. The system utilizes a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) electrode and dielectric design to develop an NTP field so as to create sufficient Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), hydroxyl species and other highly ionized molecules and atomic species in combination with catalytic functions so as to cause the oxidation and/or reduction of VOCs and/or HVOCs and/or fine organic particulate contaminants in the air streams to be decomposed into simpler, non pollutant, non ordorous compounds that can be subsequently released into the environment. The system works by drawing atmospheric pressure air and/or gas, which may or may not be contaminated, through the NTP field that is created by DBD apparatus and combining this air with the air and/or gas to be treated. The DBD apparatus is designed with a catalyst material integral to the DBD cell and an optional additional catalyst immediately after the cell and is designed to pass large scale air flows typical of commercial or industrial processes.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DESTROYING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS IN COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL LARGE VOLUME AIR EMISSIONS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001 ] Field: The invention is in the field of treating air and/or gases that is nearly or at atmospheric pressure from commercial and industrial operations and processing wherein the air and/or gases used for such activity contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or halogenic volatile organic compounds (HVOCs) and/or hydrocarbon compounds (HCs) and/or fine suspended organic particulate matter such as smoke, which are considered to be pollutants, some of which may or may not be odorous and the removal of emitted odor is also of concern, and these pollutants need to be removed and/or converted to non objectionable compounds prior to release of the air and/or gas to the environment atmosphere, and wherein the removal systems include non-thermal plasma (NTP) field and/or NTP fields with integral catalytic components and/or multiple NTP fields with integral catalytic components.

[0002] State of the Art: Air born volatile organic and/or halogenic volatile organic compound contaminants (VOCs & HVOCs) and/or hydrocarbon compounds and/or fine suspended organic particulate particles (smoke), which may or may not be odorous - collectively referred to herein as airborne pollutants, are emitted into the environment air from a range of sources and processes and can fill the air in and about residential neighborhoods in still weather conditions for many kilometers around emitter sources. Many such airborne pollutants are considered to be pollutants and emission levels are regulated by the US EPA and even those that are not but are odorous can range from odorous delectability from mildly offensive to intolerable levels for the residents in the affected area. This is a common problem in areas that are in proximity to such sources. Examples of airborne pollutant emissions that are considered odorous sources include industries that process organic materials such as those that process municipal waste, municipal scale compost operations, those that produce all types of food for human consumption which include bakeries, chocolate processing, frying and other related human food processing, industries that produce animal feed for the pet, fish, poultry and hog industry, and general agricultural applications. Other industries that process organic materials and release airborne pollutants that are odorous are those that process animal products including meat processing, fertilizer and rendering plants. Other airborne pollutant odor sources include small scale composting facilities, sewage treatment centers, garbage transfer stations and other industrial organic processing facilities. Generally, these commercial and industrial operations exhaust gases from preparation, handling, storage, cooking, grinding, drying, cooling, manufacturing, reduction and other related processes. These exhausts contain medium to low-level mixed concentrations VOCs and HVOCs that may include amines, aldehydes, and fatty acids that can be either fully evaporated and/or in aerosol form that are inherent in the materials processed, or resulting from the processing and are driven into the exhausted gas stream by the preparation and or handling activity. These industries typically have large gas flow volumes, ranging from 100 to 500,000 actual cubic feet of gas per minute (ACFM) and above.

[0003] Agricultural activities that raise animals for food production, such as hog, poultry and dairy farms also emit strong and offensive odors into the environment air from manure and barn ventilation odors and these can release offensive odors in sufficient quantity to fill many square kilometers under certain weather conditions. [0004] Solvent, cleaning fluids, paint fumes, printed circuit board manufacturing and other VOCs and HVOCs are additional sources of environmental air emissions from other general industrial and commercial activities. Some VOCs may have little or no odor, but are considered atmospheric pollutants and/or carcinogens and need treatment to reduce them to harmless compounds prior to release into the environment. In the case where the airborne pollutants of concern are extremely odorous, even concentrations in the parts per billion ranges can be offensive or exceed environmental emission limits and these also need treatment.

[0005] There are various systems designed to oxidize and/or reduce VOC emissions and other airborne pollutants resulting from commercial and/or industrial processing activity that is to be emitted into the environment so that the emitted exhaust gas stream is within environmental regulatory limits. Some of these systems use non-thermal plasma (NTP) which is formed in dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cells to create a wide range of activated species such as activated or Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), hydroxyl species and molecular and atomic species that are all at various levels of ionization that are then mixed with the gas to be treated so that the VOCs and HVOCs undergo oxidation and/or reduction by the chemical reactions caused by the active species created by the NTP field. Many of the VOCs and HVOCs emitted from commercial and industrial processing, some of which are compounds that humans normally detect as odor, ultimately reduce to carbon dioxide and water vapor, though other products are possible depending on the chemical characteristics of the pollutants, by the energetic ions and species created in the non-thermal plasma field created by the DBD cells.

[0006] Activated species, as described herein, are chemical compounds and atomic species that are created in useful concentrations by the application of sufficient electrical energy, such as through dielectric barrier discharge, to drive the molecules of interest from the ground state into the excited active states required, splitting some molecules into their atomic constituents, with the ground state being the normal state of these molecules typically at a nominal one-atmosphere pressure and 20 degrees C (or whatever atmospheric and temperature conditions occur at the place of the NTP field conditions). Activated species are typically designated in literature by "•" as in O* for active oxygen (atomic oxygen in this case). Activation occurs through a number of mechanisms including direct electron collisions or secondary collisions, light absorption, molecular processes involving ionization, or internal excitation.

[0007] Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) technology has been used to create the NTP that generates the activated species required for the purposes of this invention, and as such technology inherently limits the eV that can be applied to the gasses passing through the barrier, it is mainly the Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) which include a range of hydroxyl radicals and excited atomic oxygen, that are involved in this case, though other electron activity assists in the process. For the activated species generated in the NTP field, those ROS species that have the highest reduction potential (between about 2.4 and 6.5 eV) have the shortest availability with half-life concentrations of less than about 200 microseconds, such as in the case of oxygen singlet. These react with all compounds that pass through the NTP field, though in the case where the VOCs and/or HVOCs that need to be destroyed have a high ionic bonds, those need the high reduction potential oxidizers that are also the shortest lived, found only in sufficient concentrations in the NTP field, to reduce and/or oxidize them. These high reduction potential radicals, and the reactions between these particles and the VOC and/or HVOC molecules reacting with them, occur only in the NTP field, as these radicals quickly decay to less active species outside the NTP field. These radicals react with the odorous molecules by oxidation and reduction transformations so that the VOC molecules are transformed to simpler molecular compounds that are no longer detectable as odor and are no longer classified as pollutants. Additional activity occurring within the NTP is that of electron collisions, bombardment and direct ionization, which acts on all molecules within the field, including the compounds of concern. This electron action, as well as creating the ROS of interest, also results in the disruption of the molecular bonds of the VOC and/or HVOC compounds, which also aids in the ROS activity of oxidation and/or reduction of the odor and/or VOC compounds. The NTP field also creates, within the ROS, a range of lower reduction potential radicals (between about 1.4 and 2.4 eV), and these are longer lived with half-lives from about 100 milliseconds to several minutes at normal atmospheric temperatures and pressures. These radicals react with the VOC and HVOC compounds that respond to this level of reduction potential and oxidation for decomposition. These reactions occur both in the NTP field and in the air stream outside the NTP field, as those radicals are active longer, with a half life concentration typically ranging from 0.1 up to 10.0 seconds or more and are carried outside the NTP field by the airflow through the DBD. These longer-lived radicals also effect their changes on the VOC and HVOC compounds by oxidation and reduction transformations, so that the compounds of concern are transformed to simpler molecular forms that are no longer considered to be pollutants or detectable as odor. Such transformations also ultimately convert the complex organic molecules and hydrocarbon molecules into the most simplified oxides, such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen dioxide (water - H₂O), nitrogen (N₂) and other simplified oxide forms of the elements that were in the original complex compounds. In cases where large volume air streams need to be treated, usually a portion of the air to be treated passes through the NTP field for treatment and excessive ROS, hydroxyl, ionized molecular and atomic activation and these species created is then immediately mixed with the balance of the air to be treated so that the treatment of the entire air stream is accomplished.

[0008] Four oxidation states of molecular dioxygen are known: [O₂]" , where n = 0, +1, - 1, and -2, respectively, for dioxygen, dioxygen cation, superoxide anion, and peroxide dianion (symbolically expressed as ³O₂, ³O₂ ⁺ , ³O₂ ^" , and ³O₂ ^"2 ). In addition, "common" oxygen in air, ³O₂ , is in a "ground" (not energetically excited) state. It is a free "diradical" having two unpaired electrons. The two outermost pair of electrons in oxygen have parallel spins indicating the "triplet" state (the preceding superscript "3", is usually omitted for simplicity). Oxygen itself is a common terminal electron acceptor in biochemical processes. It is not particularly reactive, and by itself does not cause much oxidative damage to biological systems. It is a precursor, however, to other oxygen species that can be toxic, including: superoxide anion radical, hydroxyl radical, peroxy radical, alkoxy radical, and hydrogen peroxide. Other highly reactive molecules include singlet oxygen, ¹O, and ozone, O₃.

[0009] Ordinary oxygen does not react well with most molecules, but it can be "activated" by the addition of energy (naturally or artificially derived; electrical, thermal, photochemical or nuclear), and transformed into reactive oxygen species (ROS). Transformation of oxygen into a reactive state from the addition of a single electron is called reduction (Eqn, 1). The donor molecule that gave up the electron is oxidized. The result of this monovalent reduction of triplet oxygen is superoxide, O₂ ^{* "}. It is both a radical ( ^* , dot sign) and an anion (charge of -1).

Other reactive oxygen species known to be created with NTP, are noted below: (On the Ionization of Air for Removal of Noxious Effluvia [Air Ionization of Indoor Environments for Control of Volatile and Particulate Contaminants with Nonthermal Plasmas Generated by Dielectric-Barrier Discharge] Dr. Stacy L. Daniels, IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, Vol. 30, No. 4, August 2002):

O₂ + e^ O₂« ^" (Eqn l)

2 O₂-^" + 2H + ^■» H₂O₂ + O₂* (Eqn 2)

O₂ - + H₂O₂ -> O₂ + OH ^■ + OH^" (Eqn 3)

O₂- + 2 H₂O -» O₂ + H O₂- ^"+ OH-^" (Eqn 4)

2 Or^" + O₂ + H₂O ^■» 2 O₂ + OH + OH- (Eqn 5)

[0010] For any given reactive oxygen species (ROS), there exists some confirmed or postulated reaction scheme for inter conversion to any of the other species, hi any event, several of the above reactive oxygen species may be generated in the NTP and react with odorous molecules to transform them into simpler molecules that are no longer considered to be pollutants or detected as odorous.

[0011] Commercial and industrial volumes of air and/or gases to be treated normally have contaminants such as condensing water or other vapors and liquids, particles of some kind, or mixtures of both condensing fluids and particles. A problem arising from the use of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cells, generating the NTP for treating industrial scale flows of contaminated gases, is that after a period of use, sometimes only a matter of minutes, the contaminants inherent in these gases build up in the cells and cause electrical short circuits in the cells from hot electrodes, across the insulation and support frames, to the ground frame or ground electrodes. This interferes with the designed electrical properties of the DBD cell and immediately destroys any ability for the DBD cell to generate the NTP should a continuous arc occur or the integrity of the DBD insulation become compromised. In some cases, a quick flashover arc will occur and clear. An industrial example of this is in utility electrical power distribution, where the porcelain or more modern type, polymer concrete insulators on the high tension lines can withstand a short duration electrical flash, hi the case where a sustained arc occurs it is very likely DBD cell component damage has occurred as electrical arcs have very high temperatures and parts are usually damaged that have been in contact with the arc, and at the very least, cleaning of the DBD cell is necessary to restore the electrical dielectric integrity of the DBD cell, and damaged parts must be replaced. It is an important, practical consideration to pay due attention to the DBD cell design so that the effects of normal operation in an industrial environment have minimal effect on the operation of the DBD cells.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0012] According to the invention, a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cell constructed of catalytically active materials is used to create non-thermal plasma (NTP) field is particularly useful as part of apparatus for treating gases containing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or halogenated volatile organic compounds (HVOCs) some of which may or may not be particularly odorous, includes electrodes aligned and positioned within the cell to confine the area of NTP generation to keep the NTP away from the support frames and terminals for the electrodes so the frames do not suffer damage from the NTP and the terminals do not short out. Further, at least the portions of all electrodes in the cell where the contaminated gases to be treated, pass through the support frame in a sealed manner, so contaminants in the air stream being energized by the NTP field does not interfere with the electrical connections to the electrodes. Further, the gas treating apparatus of the invention may be configured so that with gases that can be treated satisfactorily with relative low energy activated species, a portion of the air to be treated and/or atmospheric air is passed through the NTP to generate the activated species and that activated air is then mixed with the gas to be treated where the longer lasting activated species react with the VOC and HVOC molecules in the air and/or gas to treat all of the air and/or gas to be treated. With harder to treat gases, some or all of the gas to be treated passes through the NTP where many forms of electron activity in the NTP field and the shorter lived, higher energy electron volt activated species all act on the compounds to be treated. A catalytically active material may be present in the DBD in that the electrodes could be made of a catalytically active material or coated with a catalytically active material and the dielectric separating the electrodes may also be coated with a catalytically active material, further more there may be additional catalytically active material present immediately at the DBD outlet and in the mixing chamber area to facilitate the oxidative and reduction reactions desired to destroy the compounds of concern. Generally larger capacity cells for generating NTP are necessary when all gas

to be treated is passed through the cells.

The Dielectric Barrier Cells that create the NTP field

[0013] The DBD cells that generate the NTP field are planar in design and can utilize a catalytically active electrically conductive electrode or other conductor that may or may not have a catalytically active coating, where the thickness of the electrode ranges from 1 to 10 mm in thickness, the height of which ranges from 5 mm up to 1500 mm or more, and the length ranges from 10 mm up to 2500 mm or more and are aligned so that the surfaces are equally spaced apart and separated by an air gap ranging from 0.1 mm up to 50.0 mm in distance. When powered by alternating current frequencies below 5 MHz and/or with slow rise time voltages, a dialectic barrier may be required and when needed is centered in the air gap between the electrodes, the dielectric barrier ranging in thickness from 0.5 mm up to 10.0 mm but sized in accordance with the space between the electrodes so as always to leave an air gap between the surface of both sides of the dielectric barrier and the surface of the electrodes. The dielectric barrier is also sized length and width wise to extend far enough beyond the edges of the electrodes so as to prevent an arc air path from electrode to electrode around the dielectric barrier. The dielectric barrier may or may not be coated on one or both surfaces with a catalytically active coating or a coating that increases the dielectric properties of the dielectric. When powered by frequencies above 5 MHz or if powered by fast rising pulses of short duration, nano second rise time and nanosecond duration, a dielectric barrier may not be required and there is only an air gap between the electrodes.

1. There are two types of electrodes within the DBD, "hot" and "ground" electrodes, and these are flat parallel mounted plates that are made from an electrically conductive material and can be made from or coated with a catalytically active material and are exposed where the NTP field is desired so that the catalytic material can aid in the gas phase chemical reactions desired. Where the edge of the electrodes are near and supported by the electrode supporting frame, that portion of each electrode is sealed in a high potential insulator with chemically resistant and high thermal resistance properties, typically a ceramic material, such as borosilicate glass, alumina ceramic or polymer concrete. The electrode edge insulator is sealed to the edges of each electrode to ensure electrical isolation of the electrode within the electrical insulation materials (end insulators) and so there is electrical isolation between the electrode and the electrode support frame. The metal part of each electrode has a tab that extends through one edge insulator and through the support frame so that an electrical connection can be made to each electrode. The development of the NTP field near the support frame is prevented by a series of cut out areas of the electrode within the end insulators so that no conducting parts of the "hot" electrodes is opposite to a conducting part of a "ground" electrode within the insulating end connectors. It is within the space between electrodes, where a "hot" electrode is directly facing and opposite to a "ground" electrode, and possibly separated by a dielectric barrier, that the NTP forms when appropriate power is applied to the electrodes. Since "hot" and "ground" electrodes are facing each other in alternating arrangements so that a "hot" electrode has a "ground" electrode on either side of it and a "ground" electrode has a "hot" electrode on either side of it and the alternating of the electrodes is such that the "outside" electrode in each frame is a ground electrode, this has the effect that all electrodes develop an NTP field on both sides when energized, except for the outside ground electrodes which only develop an NTP field on the side that faces inside the DBD assembly and has an opposing "hot" electrode. The number of electrodes can range from a single "hot" electrode with a ground electrode on either side of it to form NTP on both sides of the "hot" electrode, or 2 plasma areas in the single "hot" electrode example to as many as 40 or more "hot" electrodes with each "hot" electrode having a "ground" electrode one both sides of it so that an alternating sequence of "hot" and ground electrodes in the case of 40 "hot" electrodes would have 41 "ground" electrodes and all sides of each "hot" electrode would then develop an NTP field when energized.

2. The desired NTP field characteristics is an atmospheric glow type field rather than a filamentary glow plasma, as it is the atmospheric glow NTP that creates the highest population of the chemically active species. The design of the DBD that creates the desired type of NTP field is dictated by a number of practical considerations such as the spacing between electrode plates, the dielectric barrier material chosen, its dimensions and thickness, the thickness of the electrode plates, electrode support frame materials, catalytic materials used and how they are incorporated in the DBD assembly and the electrical network and power characteristics applied to the DBD. If the spacing is excessive between electrodes, and/or the voltage applied to the electrodes is insufficient, and/or if the electrical impedance is not matched between the electrode capacitance and the inductance of the power supply and/or if the voltage rise time is too slow and/or if the power density of the electrodes is insufficient then a streamer discharge NTP will form rather than an atmospheric glow discharge type NTP field. If the power delivered to the DBD is inappropriate for the DBD materials used, such as the dielectric barrier itself, or the frequency is too low and/or not impedance matched, then excessive electrical losses will result in the DBD, the power delivery components and excessive heating will result in the DBD itself, having the effect of causing premature component failures and create inefficiencies amounting to a significant percentage of the total power needed. The efficiency of reactive species generation is an order of magnitude less when a streamer discharge NTP field forms and the efficiency is also impacted by low frequency operation, hence it is critical to design the DBD materials, electrode spacing, power supply specifications and adjust all electrical parameters so that the glow discharge characteristics are maintained. Also, as this system is intended for commercial and industrial use and in many cases must run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, robust construction methods for both mechanical and electrical integrity in the industrial environment of vibration, less than ideal air conditions and other factors require robust construction materials and methods for all aspects of design, especially for the ceramics, insulators and electrodes. The physical spacing and size of air gaps also affects the airflow through the DBD and the differential pressure across the DBD, which are further design considerations in air handling that must be considered.

The Electrical Activation of the DBD

[0014] A filamentary and/or glow NTP within the DBD will form with the application of high voltage alternating current between the "hot" and "ground" electrodes. This AC voltage needs to be anywhere from about 1,000 volts up to and above about 150,000 volts and at a frequency, anywhere from about 30 Hz up to about 50 MHz depending on the application, cell geometry, and spacing and type of NTP field desired. Alternately, the power applied can be a bi-polar pulse with a pulse rise time anywhere from 10 nano seconds to 500 micro seconds or more, a pulse duration that can be equal to the rise time or as long as 900 micro seconds or more with an equivalent fall time as rise time followed with the same rise time in the opposite polarity pulse of identical or similar voltage power characteristics, with an off period so that the repetition rate to exposed NTP area of electrode surface ranging from 0.01 up to 1,000 joules per second per square cm. Alternately the system can be supplied by a combination of positive and negative going pulses with a DC bias as to create a visible "glow discharge" NTP field between the electrodes.

[0015] The DBD assemblies, which consist of the individual electrodes, dielectric, frame assembly, insulation and interconnecting wiring materials, are housed in a fully enclosed metal cabinet, which is usually stainless steel, but can be any other steel that can be locked from unauthorized personnel entry and securely grounded. All high voltage components are totally enclosed in this grounded cabinet to meet standard industrial safety codes. The DBD assemblies can be grouped in any number of sets, typically of at least two as monitoring the power delivered to two or more DBD assemblies when powered by the same source can assist in fault determination of any DBD in the commonly powered set. The DBD's are powered by a specialized power supply that accepts normal industrial three phase power supply and converts that power to the voltage, frequency and waveform needed to operate the DBD's at their designed power level for creation of the NTP field needed to treat the compounds of concern.

Electrical Design

[0016] The power required by the DBD's to create the NTP can be supplied to the DBD's at many differing levels. Low frequency power, from 30 to 2000 Hz typically requires a higher voltage than what higher frequency power needs and the lower frequency operation typically results in the NTP field dominated by streamer discharge, which is inefficient in the creation of the reactive species desired for the electrochemical reactions desired. At the lower frequencies ranging from 30 Hz to 2 kHz, matching inductors on the transformer primary side may be needed to find a resonant or harmonic point of operation, though resonance is not actually needed to create a field. Significant plasma generation inefficiency exists at the lower frequencies as much electrical charge energy is lost within the DBD due to charge leakage across the capacitance DBD plates. Higher frequencies, ranging from 10 to 250 kHz provide a more uniform glow NTP field, and at these frequencies electrical matching networks are needed to minimize the power losses and transmit as much power into the NTP field as possible. This range of operation also is run near the electrical resonance point for best power transmission to the NTP field. Typically, in the cases where the DBD assemblies are powered by low and mid frequency power systems, the voltage wave form at the DBD assembly is a near sine wave and the final stage power output to the DBD assemblies is provided by one or more step up transformers, installed inside the cabinet where the DBD assemblies are housed. In the case where the power supply is a pulsed power system, the final output may or may not be driven by a high voltage transformer; the actual technology used depends on the needs of the pulse formation network. Faster voltage rise and fall times that result from either higher frequencies or pulsed voltage operation create a higher population of chemically reactive species as less charge is lost from charge leakage as compared to low frequency operation, and with less charge loss, more charge is available per unit power to create the active species desired.

[0017] The power supply used that has the ability to drive the high voltage transformers, if used, with the required frequencies, waveforms, voltage, and current, is typically located in a separate control cabinet, and wired to the high voltage transformers located in DBD cabinet. The voltage and frequency applied to the DBD, which controls the power level developed in the DBD, is varied by many possible means, one of which might be the width and frequency of the pulses in the case of a simple IGBT invertor, or by phase angle or duty cycle control in the case of an SCR supply, or by a changing the frequency in the case of a swept frequency IGBT supply that seeks the resonance or off resonance of the DBD capacitance, high voltage transformer inductance in combination with added inductance and/or capacitance of an impedance matching network, by pulse repetition rate in the case of a pulsed power supply, a fast duty cycle variation or by other means, and this voltage frequency combination is delivered to the high voltage transformer primary windings (when employed) and this in turn adjusts the voltage produced by the high voltage transformer secondary windings (when employed), which is then applied to the DBD which has the effect of adjusting the level of the NTP produced in the DBD. In the case were a pulse forming network is used and no high voltage transformer is needed then the pulse repetition rate varies the net power delivered to the DBD assemblies. Typically, a closed PID control loop that monitors the actual power output of the power supply system is measured and controlled to a power level setpoint that can be cascaded from another control loop from an ozone sensor, or the power level setpoint can be manually entered.

[0018] Systems that employ small DBD assemblies designed to handle air flows from 50 actual cubic feet per minute (ACFM), or lower, to about 2000 ACFM, typically obtain their power source from a single phase supply. These are, typically, but not limited to, 5 kilo volt amps (kVA) and under, though some systems in this power range can be supplied by three phase power sources. Larger systems incorporating multiple parallel DBD assemblies for treatment of air flows from 2000 ACFM up to and beyond 250,000 ACFM can require power up to and exceeding 250 kVA, are typically powered by a three phase voltage source. Regardless of the air handling ability and power needed by whatever sized system is used, the net power of voltage and joules per square cm of the electrode surface area is in the same range on all systems. For higher air flow and/or power needs multiple DBD assemblies are arranged in parallel so the air flow is divided among all DBD assemblies. Also the ground electrode of all DBD assemblies are actually tied to electrical "earth" ground to maintain a consistent voltage profile across all DBD assemblies used and to make the system as electrically safe as possible.

THE DRAWINGS

[0019] In the accompanying drawings, which show the best mode currently contemplated for carrying out the invention:

[0020] Fig. 1 a side view of the DBD cabinet containing the DBD cells, high voltage transformer, air and/or gas path into electrodes and air and/or gas into the in the DBD cabinet mixing area;

[0021] Fig. 2, section A-A of Fig. 1, showing plan view of the DBD electrode arrangement and the high voltage transformer;

[0022] Fig. 3, a DBD electrode, showing the electrode shape within the electrode end ceramic insulators;

[0023] Fig. 4, showing the relative size of the ceramic DBD barrier to the electrode.

[0024] Fig. 5, a plan view of a DBD cell assembly, showing from top down how the electrodes, ceramic electrode insulator, ceramic barrier, spacing shims and electrode frame is assembled; [0025] Fig. 6, is a side elevation of two electrodes showing the shape of the electrode and the ceramic end insulators and how they overlap when in the "hot" position and when in the "ground" position so that non thermal plasma does not form near or inside the electrode end insulators or the electrode support frame;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS [0026] A preferred apparatus of the invention includes a housing that forms at least one gas flow passage therethrough and at least 4 dielectric barrier discharge NTP generation cells (DBD) through which at least a portion of gas flows. The apparatus can be configured so that all of the contaminated gas to be treated flows through the two DBD assemblies, only a portion of the contaminated gas to be treated flows through the 4 DBD assemblies, or none of the contaminated gas to be treated flows directly through the DBD assemblies, but atmospheric air flows as the gas through the DBD assemblies and is then mixed with the contaminated gas to be treated to treat that gas. The gas passing through the DBD cells is activated so that the activated gas from the DBD cells, when mixed with gas that has not passed through the DBD, has sufficient reactive, ionized species so that it treats the gas that has not passed through the DBD. hi instances where less than all of the contaminated gas to be treated flows through the DBDs, a mixing chamber is included in the apparatus to mix the gas that flows through the DBDs with the contaminated gas that does not flow through the DBD. Figs. 1-2 show a preferred apparatus wherein all of the contaminated gas to be treated, only a portion of the contaminated gas to be treated, or atmospheric air is passed through the DBD and, if less than all gas to be treated is passed through the DBD, the gas passing through the DBD is then mixed with the contaminated gas to be treated that has not passed through the DBD to treat that gas. As specifically configured and shown in Figs. 1-2, the apparatus passes atmospheric air and/or a portion of the air and/or gas to be treated (1), depending on the source of the air that is ducted to the top mounted fan (2) that pushes the air around the elbow vanes (3) through the adjusting damper (4) through the set of straightening vanes (5) into the DBD cells (6) and then mixes such treated atmospheric and/or process air to be treated (1) with the process air and/or gas to be treated (8) which enters the mixing chamber (7) and exits the mixing section as mixed and treated air and/or gas flow (9). The optional ozone destruct catalyst (35) is incorporated at the mixing chamber outlet should the NTP field need to be energized to such an extent for the VOC and/or HVOC destruction that ozone in excess permitted emission levels result at the mixing chamber outlet and such excess ozone needs to be destroyed. The advantage of treating either atmospheric air or only a portion of the contaminated gas in the DBDs is that less gas flows through the DBDs and is treated directly in the DBDs meaning that the size and air flow capacity of the DBD does not need to be as great as when all gas to be treated flows directly through the DBD. This is the usual configuration when the contaminants are of a low concentration in a large gas flow stream, so that the system component sizing is determined by the amount and type of contaminant needing to be treated, rather than the total gas flow involved. In the case where the contaminant is more concentrated, or needing higher eV energy to oxidize and/or reduce the components of concern, or of a sufficiently low volume, then all gas can pass through the NTP field to take advantage of the higher electrical efficiency realized when all gas passes through the NTP field.

[0027] As shown in Figs. 1-2, the apparatus includes a main flue 7, adapted to be connected at an inlet end 11 to the source of air and/or gas to be treated, such as odorous air emanating from a sewage treatment facility. The flue 7 forms a mixing chamber for mixing air and/or gas that passes through the DBD 's with the gas to be treated flowing in flue 7. A totally enclosed cabinet 11 supports and completely encloses the high voltage components, such as the high voltage transformer (10) and DBD components (6) of the apparatus. Most of the low voltage electrical components and controls, including the low voltage section of the DBD power supply, and excepting for the measurement instrumentation that must be in the DBD cabinet (11 ) are housed in a separate standard electrical cabinet, not shown. Atmospheric air or all or a portion of the air and/or gas to be treated enters the apparatus through inlet fan 2, and flows as shown by arrow 1 in Fig. 1 through the modulating damper 4, through filter 14, is straightened by straightening vanes 5 and flow through DBD' s 6 to be energized by the NTP field that the DBD 's develop. Immediately after passing through DBD 's 6, past the DBD isolation slide gates (15), the air flows into mixing chamber 7 where the air mixes with the air and/or gas that is to be treated flowing through the chamber as represented by arrow 8, Fig. 2. The air from mixing chamber 7, Fig. 1 & 2, as shown by air flow arrow (9) passes into an exhaust flue, not shown, connected to outlet end 13 of flue 7, for discharge to the atmosphere. Mixing of the gases will continue through the exhaust flue. Generally a fan will be provided in either the exhaust flue to draw the gases or in the supply inlet to push the air and/or gasses to be treated through the mixing chamber and the apparatus has its own fan (2) to ensure air flow through the DBD's. The apparatus shown includes four DBD's 6, Fig. 5, mounted side-by-side to handle the air flow through the apparatus. Divider walls (16) form individual inlets for the respective DBD's and with individual DBD isolation slide gates (15) it provides the possibility for one or more DBD to be placed out of service, directing the air flow through the other DBD's. Wall (17) has openings and slide gates (18) therethrough so that the DBD's (6) can be slid into place or removed, 6a, Fig. 1, for maintenance. The front of cover (19) Fig. 1 is removable, and interlocked to disable power, to provide access to the transformers and allow removal of the DBD 's as shown in Fig. 1. DBD (6a) is a DBD (6) during removal.

[0028] The housing or cabinet (11) and cabinet door (19) and mixing chamber (7) may be made of various materials, to be compatible with the process gas, but preferably of electrically conductive material such as stainless steel or other steel that can be securely grounded. All high voltage components are totally enclosed in this grounded cabinet, interlocked and provided with safety grounding methods to meet applicable industrial safety codes. DBD cells (6) rest on a ceramic platform (23) so that all electrical paths to the cabinet, which is at electrically ground potential, are blocked by a ceramic material of some sort.

[0029] Flow of air through inlet fan (2) and through DBD 's (6) is controlled either by varying the speed of the fan and/or by an inlet flow damper (4) Figs. 1. The air and/or gas entering through inlet fan (2) does not enter the area of the high voltage transformer (10) as this section of the housing or cabinet has a separate air supply and is cooled by a separate cooling fan (21) and vented through vent (22).

[0030] To ensure substantially equal air flow through each of the DBD's straitening vanes (5) are adjustable provided so as to permit even adjustment of the air into the DBD's. To provide for good mixing of air exiting the DBD's with the contaminated gases to be treated, the mixing chamber (7) is actually a large round duct with internal baffles (20) to rotate the air and cause turbulence in the mixing chamber. The rotation is needed because the active species exiting the DBD's have such short half life concentrations that many of the faster species decay to half concentration after traveling 12 inches or less. To get maximum dispersion of the reactive species from all 4 DBD's in the configuration described herein, the rotation of the air within the mixing chamber, as rotated by baffles (20) would be designed such that all air in the duct is rotated so that all air is rotated into position as to come into intimate contact immediately with the air exiting each of the DBD cell assemblies. While an air rotational scheme is described here, it is possible to design another scheme to ensure laminar flow does not take place and all air within the mixing chamber and duct comes into contact quickly with the air entering from the DBD cell assemblies.

[0031 ] Rather than passing atmospheric air into fan ( 1 ) and through DBD ' s (6), with the apparatus shown in Figs. 1-2, it is easy to split the contaminated gas stream to be treated to direct a portion of the contaminated gas to be treated to the inlet fan (1), rather than drawing in atmospheric air, or in addition to atmospheric air. Such gas to be treated is passed directly through the DBD 's and is then mixed with the remainder of the gas to be treated in the mixing chamber.

[0032] Also, all contaminated gas to be treated can be directed to inlet fan (2) with the inlet (8) to flue (7) blocked. Thus, all gas to be treated is passed into inlet fan (2) and passes though the "hot" and "ground" electrodes of a DBD, so substantially all such gases are exposed directly to the NTP generated by the DBD 's. Flue (7) does not act as a mixing chamber in this configuration in the same way it does in the configurations previously described. The gasses passing through the DBD's also serve the important function of cooling the electrodes of the DBD's. Thus, when the gases to be treated are passed directly through the DBD's, care must be taken to ensure that the required cooling of the components needing cooling takes place. Where the contaminated exhaust gases to be treated are hot, it may be necessary to add quench air to the air to be treated to cool it sufficiently so damage to the DBD components is prevented.

[0033] In general, the configuration that passes all gas to be treated through the DBD's is more efficient in terms of energy required to break down the VOC compounds into harmless compounds that can be emitted into the environment, as the electron activity in the NTP field assists in breaking the molecular bonds of the compounds of concern by direct electron collision and ionization and the extremely short lived, higher energy radicals and atomic species, those with half lives of 200 nano seconds or less such as oxygen singlet, are available to effect the oxidation and reduction of the VOC compounds and molecules. In the bypass or partial bypass modes, the direct ionization of the gas to be treated does not occur and the shortest lived radicals which are the most chemically active have decayed significantly and are not assisting with the oxidation and reduction of the VOC compounds in the mixing chamber, though there still is a significant population of the longer lived radicals and active species. In cases where the gas to be treated needs unusually high energy to be oxidized and/or reduced, such as in exhaust gases that would otherwise have to be incinerated to treat the gas, all of such gas must pass directly through the NTP, as it is only within the NTP where the direct ionization occurs and the reactive species with the highest ionization energy levels are developed and can oxidize and reduce those compounds that need these conditions to disrupt the bonds that need a higher energy level to oxidize and/or reduce them.

[0034] While the actual treatment of the gas to be treated may be more efficient in terms of energy required to neutralize the VOC compounds in the gas when all gas is passed through the DBD' s, large volumes of gas would require large numbers of DBD 's to provide the capacity necessary to pass all gas to be treated through the DBD 's. Thus, in such instances, and where all the gas to be treated does not necessarily need to pass through the NTP field to be effectively treated, a smaller amount of atmospheric air, or a smaller portion of gas to be treated, can be passed through a fewer number of DBD's and such gas then used to treat the remaining gas by the mixing described. [0035] Each of the DBD's (6) includes a rectangular frame (24) made from a non combustible or ceramic material such as polymer concrete, Figs. 5-6, enclosing and supporting a plurality of electrodes (25) positioned in alternating arrangement so the electrodes with the conducting tab (26) placed on one side will function as a "hot" electrode and if the same electrode is placed with its conducting tab on the other side it will function as a "ground" electrode Fig 5-6. Generally the "hot" electrodes will be at either a positive or a negative voltage with respect to the "ground" electrodes when energized, however, the "ground" electrodes always are connected to electrical ground. The electrodes (25) have end plate ceramic insulators, one type for the end that has the connection tab (27) and another type for the end of the electrode that does not have the connection tab (28) and are sealed on the electrode using a silicone or similar type. The electrodes have a unique shape on the edges that are insulated so that at this location the conducting portion of the electrode does not face another electrode, even through the end insulators and in this way the formation of a partial NTP field is prevented. The goal is to have the NTP field form only where there is air and/or gas passage throught the DBD and in this way keep all NTP forming components air cooled. The electrode itself is made of a catalytically active material, ASTM grade 1 or 2 Titanium, typically 16 gage in thickness so it retains its flat shape in this case, or it could be another catalytically active material such as palladium or cadmium or it could be a stainless steel with a catalytically active coating, with the material selection dependent on the VOC that it is designed to treat or any other type of catalytically active materials. The dielectric barrier plate (29) is also a ceramic, either borosilicate glass or a high purity alumina dielectric and is positioned on both sides of the electrode with an air gap (30) surrounding all exposed parts of the electrodes Fig. 5. The DBD barrier (29) is sized length and height wise as to give a sufficient electrical arc distance between the electrodes so as it exceeds the operational voltage arc distance that the electrodes run at by a factor of 2 in high humidity air. The DBD barrier may be coated with a catalytically active coating, such as Titanium Dioxide, to assist in the oxidation of the VOCs. A Teflon spacer (31) is used to permit frame adjustment, permit thermal expansion and compensate for minor tolerance changes in the ceramic components.

[0036] An electrical connection tab (26) extends from the electrodes through the DBD support frame so that all electrical connections are made outside the area where the air and/or gas passes through the DBD barrier. The electrodes that extend nearest the frame outside edge Side D Fig. 1 and 5 are the "ground" electrodes and those that are positioned more inside the DBD frame are the "hot" electrodes.

[0037] It has been found that exposing catalytically active material in the NTP field significantly enhances the VOC destruction abilities of the NTP field. Also, cooling of both electrodes and the dielectric is important in long term operation, so all sides of the dielectric barrier and the electrodes are exposed to the air and/or gas that flows through the DBD barrier assembly. To gain maximum benefit from the NTP and possible catalysts, catalytically active materials are involved in the electrodes themselves, can be coated on the dielectric barrier and in addition it has been found that a screen on the DBD outlet made of a catalytically active material such as ASTM grade 1 or 2 Titanium wire mesh (32) Fig 6, also enhances the VOC destruction properties of the DBD assembly.

[0038] The ceramic insulators on the ends of the electrodes is sealed on the metal part of the electrodes by a sealant such as silicone to eliminate a water passage from forming as a result of any condensation or moisture in the and/or gas passing through the DBD cells. [0039] The physical matching of the electrodes is such that the NTP field formed between electrodes is confined to the area where the electrodes directly oppose each other through the dielectric medium and as such, this geometry serves to control the NTP and keep it away from the support frame so the frame does not suffer damage from the NTP field. The area of NTP generation is only the area enclosed by lines (33) & (34) in Fig. 6, i.e., the area inside the perimeter of the electrodes.

[0040] The excitation of the electrodes that causes the NTP field to form in the DBD assembly will vary according to the application. The "hot" electrodes and "ground" electrodes will have opposing polarity so that a NTP forms in the directly opposing areas between the electrodes. The electrodes can be excited by alternating current of either sine wave, square wave, or other wave shape as deemed effective, with the "hot" electrode being either positive or negative with respect to the "ground" electrode at any given instant of the alternating current cycle even though the ground electrode is always connected to electrical "earth" ground. The peak voltage between electrodes should be at least about 2,000 volts and usually will be in the range of between about 2,000 volts and about 150,000 volts, which is determined by the actual cell geometry required for a given application. The frequency should be between about 30 Hz up to about 50 MHz, and in some cases, higher. Where higher frequencies are used, or where fast rise time pulses, approximately 30 nano second rise time, and short duration pulses, alternating in polarity are applied then it is possible to remove the dielectric barrier and achieve a NTP field without the barrier.

[0041] It has been found useful to group the DBD's in groups of four where all DBD's are powered by the same power supply each DBD assembly is monitored for current flow as a change in current flow of any DBD assembly can be used to indicate DBD fault. For the embodiment shown, Figs. 5 and 6, there are two "hot" electrodes, with three "ground" electrodes for each of the four DBD' s, all DBD 's powered by a single transformer but fed through a separate disconnect, that could be powered by an invertor that could be fed from three phase power. When energized, these electrodes form the NTP field in the directly opposed areas between the electrodes, i.e., the area enclosed by lines (33) and (34) in Fig. 6. An NTP field will develop under many possible voltages and frequencies with the higher frequencies needing less voltage to create an NTP field. For example, a 5 kHz sine wave, with a root mean square voltage of 6 kV will produce an NTP field, as will a 60 Hz sine wave with 14 kV in the same DBD assembly. The density of the NTP field is an important issue for VOC destruction efficiency, with general literature describing two main types, filamentary that results in a sparse NTP field and an atmospheric glow discharge in which the NTP is denser. The best VOC destruction efficiency is realized when the NTP field is an atmospheric glow discharge and this condition is achieved by a number of means which include increased electrical power density in the DBD electrode area, electrical impedance matching of the DBD capacitance and power supply and frequency, voltage and wave shape. Pulse power is the best way to operate the DBD as it has the effect of increasing the population of the various reactive species over that produced with simple sine wave power. In general, a fast voltage rise time is desired to create an "avalanche" of electron movement across the air space in the DBD to maximize the creation of reactive species desired from the NTP field. Sine wave power of less than (approximately) 10 kHz has a relatively slow rise time. The slower rise time results in charge "leakage" across the DBD barrier and does not contribute to the formation of the reactive species. In frequencies below 10 kHz the losses become very significant in that only a fraction of the power delivered by the invertor to the high voltage transformer and DBD combination actually creates the reactive species required. While on lower powered systems that range up to 5 kW even 50% loss of power that is consumed as to what actually creates the reactive species is not too significant in terms of excess heat, efficiency loss and component cost, this design includes those apparatus designs in the 5 kW range up to 100 kW range and more per system, with the possibility of multiple 100 kW systems used on a give large scale application. At 50 kW to 100 kW and more, some of the component cost for power supply, transformers and support systems of power delivery and component cooling, as well as the waste heat loss in the DBD barrier itself mandates the system be designed at a more efficient operating point where higher frequency operation in combination with correct impendence matching and low loss dielectrics be utilized. When attention is paid to such details, the losses can be reduced enough so that capital and operation costs are significantly reduced, yet have the same electro chemical efficiency.

[0042] A satisfactory power supply includes a single transformer 10 for all DBD's, powered by a frequency invertor that is capable of driving a transformer load. An impedance matching network that may or may not contain additional inductive and/or capacitance in either the transformer primary or secondary circuit is necessary so that the combined inductive reactance of the transformer and extra inductor nearly matches the "live" capacitance of the DBD's, thus the system runs at "near" electrical resonance to get maximum power into the NTP. The term "live" capacitance is needed, as the capacitance of the "hot" and "ground" electrodes, when assembled in their frame and measured when the system is not powered, differs from that measured when the system is in operation. This is because the NTP changes the capacitance of the DBD when in operation so that must be matched by the inductance and frequency when in operation to achieve the desired NTP level. [0043] The invertor that powers the transformer is typically controlled through a programmable logic controller (PLC) system that monitors all currents in the DBD ground leads, selects the maximum current and modulates the signal to the invertor so that the power delivered by the invertor remains at the setpoint entered. Changes in the gas being treated, such as temperature, humidity, plus the effects of component heating (transformers & inductors) can cause variations in the NTP developed and the power consumed, and this is held steady by the PID control algorithm calculated by the PLC. In addition for steady plasma control, the current monitoring in each of the DBD assembly ground currents servers to indicate if a fault has developed in any of the DBD's. All should operate with similar power, with a difference of only a few percent. Should any DBD suddenly differ in power, either more or less it is an indication of a DBD fault and the system can shut down do avoid excessive damage to the DBD components and alert maintenance personnel that attention is needed. Another configuration would be to use a 3 phase output to drive 3 separate transformers that have the primary of the transformers connected in delta arrangement with the secondary connections of each transformer on a single DBD assembly. Should any DBD fault, it would be indicated by a phase imbalance that can be detected by monitoring each output phase of the inverter and then trigger a shutdown of the faulted phase, through the use of a contactor in series with each transformer primary.

[0044] The power delivered by the invertor to the primary of the transformer is varied by either changing the operating frequency of the invertor or the width of the pulses delivered to the transformer from the invertor, through the PLC controller (PID) algorithm that controls the power invertor and this in turn adjusts the voltage output of the transformer, hence to the "hot" and "ground" electrodes, which adjusts the level of the NTP produced. Such control typically is very non-linear as the system runs normally in resonant mode, where the power resonating in the DBD capacitance and the inductance of the system has a higher current flow than that of the invertor delivering power to the system. Typically, a closed PID control loop that monitors the actual power output of the invertor is measured and controlled to a power level setpoint that can be cascaded from another control loop from an ozone sensor, or the setpoint can be manually entered. Other system states, such as contactor status, for incoming power to the invertor, inverter output currents and/or individual DBD ground currents is also monitored and displayed by the PLC system. An important interlock monitored by the PLC is the DBD differential pressure, which represents the air and/or gas flow through the DBD 's. Normally, two hot electrodes with three ground electrodes in each of the four DBD assemblies needs a minimum of 1000 ACFM of gas for each DBD assembly for a total of 4,000 ACFM at 70 degrees F for this particular embodiment. In this embodiment, this results in a differential pressure of 0.8 inches of water at 4000 ACFM. The gas must be filtered to the extent of removing coarse particles and debris that might not pass between the gas flow space separating the "hot" and "ground" electrodes. Should the filter clog or the system fan fail or any other reason cause insufficient air and/or gas to pass through the DBD 's, as indicated by a drop in differential pressure, the PLC will sense this and disable the power to the unit and present and alarm indication. This is needed, otherwise the DBD 's will overheat and the dielectric separating the electrodes might break, destroying the dielectric integrity resulting in malfunction.

[0045] This embodiment as described will be rated for 15 kilowatts as, measured as the power input to the invertor which is not necessarily what is being dissipated at the DBD. Such system has been successfully used to treat the VOCs that are odorous from a pet food production facility, treating 20,000 ACFM of air that was used to dry and cool the feed. [0046] Other embodiments are possible, with different DBD dimensions different DBD electrode count in each respective DBD assembly, different airflows, different power densities and different power ratings. Single-phase units, for small airflows, are possible, typically using power from 5 watts up to approximately 3000 watts. Systems needing more power are typically powered with three-phase power, though some power supplies, accepting three phase in and 3 phase or single phase out, with different power electronics, such as nanosecond pulsed power, SCR control and different IGBT arrangements and much higher frequencies, are possible.

[0047] In choosing a power and gas flow design to implement in a given application that needs VOC abatement that may or may not have an odorous component, the following considerations are important:

X Due to the wide ranging nature of differing VOCs, their odorous intensity, the character of the perceived odor and the inexact science of determining the specific composition, potency, and the energy needed to oxidize and/or reduce a given mix of VOC complex organic molecules and/or HVOCs, the systems are sized for unknown VOC applications by operating a pilot sized system at the odor site.

X The pilot sized system has all the same flow paths as the full-scale system and is operated with a scaled down, known VOC laden airflow that may or may not be odorous from the process to be treated in concert with adjustable power and frequency levels with various air flow configurations to determine the optimum operation configuration, residence time and joules per liter density required to treat the gas.

X The determination of the appropriate mix and flow of VOC laden and/or non-VOC contaminated air to the pilot inputs depends on the nature of the VOCs and possibly the odorous potency and characteristics. In cases where the VOC is highly concentrated and cannot be treated by any other means, except, possibly incineration, or if the VOC contaminated air flow can all pass through the DBD cells, then it is best to configure all odorous air to pass through the DBD assembly as that has the best energy and efficiency effect.

X In applications where the VOC is diluted and of a potency that does not need to be passed directly through the DBD to be neutralized and/or the air stream is large, then the system may best pass a part of the contaminated air stream an/or atmospheric air in any desired mix ratio through the DBD and inject the activated species formed by the DBD assemblies from this air into the odorous air stream to provide the treatment.

X In applications where some extremely high concentration or difficult to oxidize and/or reduce VOCs need to be treated, then such must pass entirely through the DBD assemblies and be treated directly by the NTP fields, as only the most active species that operate entirely within the NTP field will neutralize such difficult VOCs. In such applications, the lesser reactive species may still exist in the air exiting the DBD, so it is useful to process some less concentrated VOCs from other air streams, such as ambient factory air and they are admitted to the Odor Removal System through the DBD bypass input. In this configuration the pilot and full scale Odor Removal System will treat both odor sources at the same time.

X It is also possible that multiple DBD assemblies be configured to operate in series, that is an air stream be arranged so it passes into one DBD assembly and through an NTP field, then (possibly) pass over the catalytic mesh underneath the first DBD assembly, then pass through another DBD assembly and (possibly) through a second NTP field through that second catalytic mesh, and so on for multiple NTP catalytic treatment of a given air stream. Once an energy level has been established for given air flow rates to each system input for a given odor source or combination of sources, the full scale system can then be sized.

[0048] The system illustrated in Figs. 1-2 is in a bypass system configuration, using a total of 4000 actual cubic feet of either atmospheric or contaminated air per minute (ACFM) through the DBD' s, to be activated by the NTP to create the reactive species that are mixed with the gas to be treated. The treated gas volume can be from 1000 ACFM up to 50,000 ACFM per assembly (with the possibility of using multiple assemblies for large scale applications), depending on the concentration of the VOC needing treatment. This same configuration could also pass gas in a mix, in that some of the gas to be treated flows through the NTP field, hi this configuration, the gas passing through the NTP field is not only treated to remove the pollutant of concern, but also is activated so that it can treat other air.

[0049] A further feature of the invention is that the efficiency of the VOC destruction removal can, with some VOCs, be directly monitored and automatically controlled using an ozone monitor. Ozone is one of the longest-lived reactive oxygen species that are formed to treat the odorous gas and there is usually a small amount of residual ozone in the treated gas stream when enough species has been created to neutralize the VOC levels in the case of VOCs that may or may not be odorous are treatable with the longer lived species. As the power applied to the DBD 's controls the amount of active species produced (within the limits of the DBD's power handling rating), the power can be modulated automatically to maintain a small residual ozone level, to match EPA or local authority guidelines. Since adjusting the power to the DBD's controls the NTP level, hence the amount of active species created, then the level of active species required to treat any combination of gas flow and contaminant level is modulated so enough active species is produced to fully oxidize and/or reduce the VOCs contained in the gas stream and leave a small residual ozone in the discharge. In the case where the small residual ozone drops, it means that there is an increase in the VOCs to be treated so the automatic control loop can increase power to the DBD' s to increase the NTP field which in turn generates more active species to meet the treatment demand. In the case where the residual ozone increases, then the VOC load has decreased so the automatic control can reduce the power to maintain the small residual ozone setpoint to stay within authority limits for ozone emissions. In cases where the gas to be treated must all pass through the NTP field for effective treatment, due to the high energy requirement of the VOCs needing treatment, then it might not be possible to close the control loop using ozone as the process variable, as the gas being treated would not consume the lower energy ROS species of which ozone is a member. In such cases a manual operation level might have to be set.

[0050] The aforementioned Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) that interlocks all safety devices and controls the on/off and modulating functions of the apparatus also incorporates interlocks of the system according to factory needs. In other words, it will automatically shut down when the factory halts production and/or isolate a fault and give an alarm message if such occurs in the system.

[0051] The system of the invention can be added on to existing factories or integrated as part of a new plant design. The changes in equipment are minimal to integrate this technology into a factory and the only operating consumable commodity is electricity and the occasional filter replacement. The catalytic components are not consumed in this system. Further, the technology is scalable to any size from small domestic sized units for point source odors of a few ACFM, all the way to the largest factories that release hundreds of thousands of ACFM and more VOC pollutant laden air that may or may not be odorous, into the environment. When large volumes of air, and/or extremely high VOC load in combination with large air volumes must be treated, multiple units can be combined in parallel to treat the air.

[0052] While the invention has been described as apparatus for treatment of volatile organic compound contaminants in gas emissions, the invention can be used in a variety of other applications to oxidize and/or reduce a compound or compounds of concern to a desired form. One such application would be to reduce the hydrocarbon content in air emission applications to an acceptable level prior to release into the atmosphere. Gas fumes such as combustibles, fine particulate emissions, such as smoke and even H₂S from oil wells or other processes can be oxidized and reduced using this technology that otherwise would require burning or flaring to prior to being discharged into the atmosphere. In many cases, additional fuel, such as propane, is needed to keep a flare in combustion when the concentration of combustibles in the gas to be emitted falls below the ignition point. With this technology, an ignition concentration is not required to fully oxidize and reduce the gas, the NTP is able to fully oxidize and reduce the gas to be treated regardless of the hydrocarbon level. Other hydrocarbon compounds, such as those containing chlorine and fluorine are also treatable by this invention.

[0053] Whereas the invention is here illustrated and described with reference to embodiments thereof presently contemplated as the best mode of carrying out the invention in actual practice, it is to be understood that various changes may be made in adapting the invention to different embodiments and to the availability of improved materials (power supplies or ceramics for example) without departing from the broader inventive concepts disclosed herein and comprehended by the claims that follow.

Claims

CLAIMS I claim:

1. Apparatus for treatment of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and/or halogenated volatile organic compounds (HVOCs), some of which may or may not be odorous and/or organic fine particulate contaminants in air and/or gas emissions, comprising: a planar dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) type non-thermal plasma (NTP) generation cell assembly having a gas flow path therethrough, said cell having a plurality of electrically hot electrodes and ground electrodes alternately positioned with respect to each other, located in the air and/or gas flow path so that the air and/or gas flowing in the gas flow path will flow through the air space between these electrodes, all electrodes either being made of catalytically active materials or coated with a catalytically active material, a dielectric material separating the electrodes to prevent a direct arc from occurring between electrodes with an alternating voltage potential difference in operation so that the DBD develops an NTP field when sufficient power is applied so that a range of reactive oxygen species (ROS), hydroxyl species, molecular and atomic species all of which are in various states of low, medium and highly ionized states - Reactive Species (RS), with the dielectric barriers also possibly coated with a catalytically active material; a cell gas inlet leading to the gas flow path through the cell; and a cell gas outlet for discharging gas that has passed through the cell and (possibly) a further catalytically active mesh at the DBD outlet that the gas must pass through.

2. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 1 , wherein the DBD assembly gas inlet is connected to a source of air and/or gas emissions, and the DBD assembly gas outlet discharges treated air and/or gas for discharge after being treated with the NTP created Reactive Species.

3. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 2, additionally including a gas mixing chamber so that the remainder of the air and/or gas to be treated can be mixed with that portion of the air and/or gas to be treated that was divided from the total of the air and/or gas to be treated and passed through the DBD cells and activated by the NTP field so that portion of air and/or gas is treated and contains extra reactive species to be mixed in the mixing chamber which is immediately after the DBD cells with that portion of gas that did not pass through the DBD cells so that portion of the air and/or gas gets treated also by the extra reactive species created and the mixing chamber gas outlet is for discharging all mixed and treated air and/or gas that has passed through the apparatus and can be ducted to be discharged.

4. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 3, wherein the DBD cell assemblies each cell consisting of a plurality of alternating potential electrodes either made up of a catalyst conductor or coated with a catalyst material separated by a dielectric which also may or may not be coated with a catalytic material and held in place by a non conductive frame and where many cells are arranged in parallel for treatment of large air flow volumes.

5. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 4, wherein the discharge air and/or gas may be ducted to an additional catalyst or two catalyst systems for creation of yet more gaseous catalytic reduction reactions and possibly destruction of excess ozone, should excess ozone exist in the discharge air and/or gas to be treated.

6. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 5, wherein the assembly that holds the electrodes and dielectric that forms the DBD assembly uses an alumina or borosilicate glass as some of the dielectric material, some of the ceramic material is polymer concrete, specifically designed for high voltage insulation applications, some of the insulating material being teflon or other non metallic insulator materials.

7. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 6, wherein the electrodes of the DBD are either constructed of catalytically active material or coated with a catalytically active coating and are in planar positional alignment of alternating hot and ground electrodes, separated by a dielectric barrier spaced midway between the surface of the electrodes and that an air gap exists between the electrodes and the dielectric barrier that can range from 0.1 mm up to 25.0 mm between each electrode and the separating dielectric, which can be from 0.5 mm up to 10.0 mm thick and the with equal spacing between the hot electrode and the dielectric barrier and the ground electrode and the dielectric barrier so that both hot and ground electrodes are exposed to the air to be treated to enable the catalytic action of the electrodes and possibly the dielectric barrier to have maximum effect, with the electrode alignment in parallel plate arrangement so as to create a capacitor so an NTP field will develop between opposing electrode surfaces when electrically energized as needed.

8. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 7, wherein the electrically insulating material holding the electrodes in position is a ceramic material and the dielectric separating the electrodes extends beyond the electrodes on all sides of the plane, even where they are held in alignment within the cell assembly so as to maximize the distance that an electric arc might travel so as to use air spacing to complement the insulation properties of the insulating materials, with the edges of the electrodes cut in offset shape so they do not oppose where they are held in position within the electrode end insulators near the DBD support frame so as to prevent the NTP field from forming near the edge of the electrodes where they are held in position by the rectangular support frame to eliminate the NTP field from touching the support frame and so as to maximize the electric arc travel distance between the hot and ground electrodes around the ceramic dielectric barrier that separates the opposing electrode surfaces, to prevent short circuiting of the electrical DBD capacitive assembly circuit.

9. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 8, wherein a NTP field is generated between electrodes when power is applied to the electrodes and the perimeter of the hot electrodes establishes a perimeter for the NTP field generated between electrodes substantially equal to the perimeter of the hot electrodes, whereby the NTP field is kept away from the frame and kept away from the individual electrode support insulators.

10. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 9, wherein power is applied to the electrodes to generate a "glow discharge" and not a "filament discharge" NTP field between the electrodes, and wherein the power is an AC voltage of between about 1000 volts and about 150,000 volts at a frequency of between about 30 Hz and about 50 MHz. Alternately, the power applied can be a bi-polar pulse with a pulse rise time anywhere from 10 nano seconds to 500 micro seconds, a pulse duration that can be equal to the rise time or as long as 500 micro seconds with an equivalent fall time as rise time followed with the same rise time in the opposite polarity pulse of identical or similar voltage power characteristics, with an off period so that the repetition rate is equivalent to joules per second per square centimeter rate ranging from 0.01 up to 1,000. Alternately the system can be supplied by a combination of positive and negative going pulses with a DC bias as to create a visible "glow discharge" NTP field between the electrodes.

11. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions according to claim 10, additionally including a dielectric barrier discharge NTP generation cell power control system and an ozone sensor in the treated gas leaving the apparatus, the ozone sensor providing an indication of the ozone content of the treated gas, the ozone content of the treated gas being indicative of the extent of treatment of the gas, the indication of ozone content of the treated gas being transmitted to the control system to control the power provided to the cells with an automatic, proportional / integral / derivative (PID) type controller for the first part of the control scheme. Using ozone outlet concentration and a limit on the power that can be applied to the DBD' s a secondary control scheme can be programmed to decrease the air flow through the DBD' s in the case where the ozone drops below a set point and the plasma power is at the configured maximum so that the air and/or gas passing through the DBD 's and NTP field always has a controlled residual ozone indicating that enough active species has been created in the air and/or gas for full destruction of the targeted pollutants. The control scheme can contain only the first part (plasma field power modulation) where it is certain the air will never need to be reduced through the NTP field for treatment or it can be a split control scheme containing both plasma power modulation in the first part of the control scheme and then air flow modulation in the second part of the control scheme in situations where there is a possibility of needing to change the air flow through the NTP field to guarantee residual ozone in all possible cases of a given application.

12. Apparatus for treatment of VOCs and/or HVOCs some of which might be odorous and/or may contain organic fine particulate contaminants in gas emissions, comprising: one or more dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) non-thermal plasma (NTP) generation cells in series and/or parallel and/or series parallel, having gas flow paths therethrough, said cells having a plurality of electrically hot electrodes and ground electrodes, both types of electrodes being conductive and made from a catalytically active material or coated with a catalytically active material, each alternating hot and ground electrode separated by a dielectric barrier so as to create a nonthermal plasma when electrically energized, with said electrodes producing the NTP field positioned in the gas flow path so that gas flowing in the gas flow path will flow through the air space between these electrodes through the NTP field that forms between the dielectric barrier and the electrode plates; a gas inlet leading to the gas flow path through the DBD cells; a DBD cells gas outlet for discharging gas that has passed through the DBD cells; a gas mixing chamber having a first section for gas inlet connected to the DBD cells gas outlet and a second section gas inlet, the mixing chamber mixing gas entering the chamber from the first and second inlets; and a mixing chamber gas outlet for discharging gas that has passed through the mixing chamber, said inlets being arranged so that the cell gas inlet is selectively connected to a source of contaminated gas to be treated, to a source of atmospheric air, or to sources of both contaminated gas and atmospheric air which may have an additional catalytic material to facilitate the oxidative and reduction reactions of the mixing chamber and following that the possibility of an ozone destruct catalyst further downstream of the air and/or gas flow.