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Ethylene decomposition with a wire-plate dielectric barrier discharge reactor: parameters and kinetic study
Ma, T. J. & Lan, W. S.
Abstract
Ethylene is an undesirable compound for the
storage of horticultural products. The traditional freshkeeping
method of fruits and vegetables is refrigeration.
However, even in refrigeration environment, ethylene is
released by horticultural products themselves or other
sources. The residual ethylene can accelerate maturation
and corruption of horticultural products and thus should
better be wiped away. The technique of dielectric barrier
discharge was applied to decompose ethylene. Under
electric discharge, many energetic and highly reactive
species can be produced, which can react with and decompose
the chemical compounds in contact with them.
In this study, the efficiency of ethylene removal using
dielectric barrier discharge reactor was studied. Ethylene
removal rates were affected by many factors, such as gas
discharge gap, wire distance, flow rate, ethylene initial
concentration and humidity. The kinetics of ethylene removal
was studied. To disintegrate ethylene, the optimal
discharge gap was 3 mm, wire distance 0.5 mm, gas flow
rate 3.5 L min-1 and humidity 61 %. Two kinetics
models were selected for ethylene decomposition, and
experimental results could fit the model with a maximum
absolute error of 4 %. With optimal discharge condition,
ethylene can totally be removed. In the future,
decomposition of ethylene by dielectric barrier discharge
technology will be a promising method to keep fruits and
vegetables fresh.
Keywords
Decomposition; Dielectric barrier discharge reactor; Ethylene; Kinetics
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