Dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs) have been investigated under a wide
range of experimental conditions (pulsed and sinusoidal excitation, input
energy, frequency, and residence time) to remediate NOx from atmospheric
O2 rich gas streams. In a given reactor under identical gas composition
and equivalent energy density deposition, results show that the main
parameter which controls the efficiency of the plasma process is the energy
deposition mode. For example, in a pulsed DBD processing at energy density
deposition of 30 J/L, 25% of NOx and 40% of C3H6 were
converted at 35 mJ/pulse whereas, at 195 mJ/pulse these values were 0%
and 15%, respectively. Furthermore, significantly different end products
were observed when changing the nature of electrical excitation.