In this study, the abatement of benzene in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor was studied. The efficiency was investigated in terms of benzene conversion and product formation. The composition of gas-liquid-solid three-phase product produced during degradation was observed by GC-MS. Under the optimal SED, the solid-phase product was analyzed by FT-IR, SEM, and EDS. The results suggested that the product were mainly benzonitriles, benzenedicarbonitrile, phenols, esters, and amides. The wt% of C in product decreased as SED increased, demonstrating that the high discharge voltage facilitated the conversion of VOCs to gaseous intermediate product and CO2. Possible degradation mechanism and pathways of benzene destruction in the DBD reactor were proposed.
Keywords: Benzene; Dielectric barrier discharge; Mechanism; Removal efficiency; Three-phase product.