Degradation of high-concentration simulated organic wastewater by DBD plasma

Abstract In this study, a high-concentration simulated organic wastewater, made by dissolving methyl violet in water, was degraded using dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma generated in air and O2 respectively. The decoloration rate and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of wastewater were evaluated during plasma treatments with the initial concentration of methyl violet of 300 mg L−1. Results showed that the highest decoloration rate of around 100% within 10 min and the highest COD decrease of 33% within 60 min could be achieved with the O2 plasma treatment at the discharge voltage of 10 kV, while air plasma treatment showed lower efficiency in decolorizing the methyl violet solution and lower COD decrease (24%) after 60 min treatment. UV-Vis spectroscopy and chemical analysis of generated by-products during the plasma-enabled degradation process revealed that the methyl violet molecules could be completely decomposed into some refractory organics in the solution. Based on the experimental results and literature review, a pathway of methyl violet degradation attributed to energetic electrons and highly reactive species generated by DBD was proposed.