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Eco-efficient electrical and innovative technology development for indoor air and gas exhaust treatment in industry

Panel: 3. Energy use in industry: The road from policy to action

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Nicolas Mericam-Bourdet, EDF R&D - Eco Efficiency Dpt, France
Didier Frochot, EDF R&D - Eco-Efficiency Dpt, France
Emmanuel Odic, Supelec - E3S Department of Power and Energy systems, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France., France
Micheal Kirkpatrick, Supelec - E3S Department of Power and Energy systems, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France., France

Abstract

High indoor VOC levels can be found in various industrial sectors. A large fresh air ratio is often necessary in order to protect people who are exposed in these areas. This replacement air requires heating or cooling depending on the season, dehumidification and, in some cases, filtration to remove airborne bacteria, yeasts and molds. Furthermore, the standard technology for removal of VOCs is adsorption by active coal filters which in turn have to be regenerated or incinerated. The overall energy consumption for air treatment can thus become very high. Important energy savings can be obtained if the indoor air is cleaned and partly recycled in the factory unit thanks to a strong reduction in the fresh air ratio. A cold plasma technology (non thermal plasma) has been shown in abundant past research to be effective in the removal and oxidation of VOCs. This technology is advantageous because the pollutants are decomposed rather than trapped.

Up to now, commercial applications have been prevented by two major drawbacks: low energy efficiency of the process and production of by–products due to incomplete oxidation.

A PhD thesis on this subject linked to the Peccovair ANR project is ongoing (EDF R&D, LPGP, LACCO and SUPELEC). The objectives of this work are to obtain a clear view of the ability of a cold plasma process to remove different kinds of pollutants (ketones, aromatics, alcohols) and to investigate solutions to reduce electrical energy consumption of the process. According to the existing literature, short duration high voltage pulses might be able to improve the efficiency of a plasma process. A combined plasma-catalysis reactor is another way to achieve better efficiency. These two solutions will be investigated during the thesis and might promote cold plasma technology to BAT (Best Available Technology) label. Other applications that can be considered include exhaust gas treatment (odours and VOC’s) and indoor air treatment in tertiary sectors.

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