Organic pollutants treatment in a water aerosol reactor by pulsed corona discharge at atmospheric pressure

An atomization reactor with a gas cycler is designed, and the phenol is treated as wastewater by pulse corona discharge, which is sprayed into the reactor through a pneumatic atomization nozzle. To fully utilize the ozone and enhance organic pollutant removal, we maintained continuous gas circulation in the reactor. The resulting phenol solution was subjected to six passes of decomposition treatment. Approximately 87.4% of 100 mg/L phenol concentration was decomposed in the plasma system gas circulation, whereas only 51.9% was decomposed in the same system but without gas circulation after the sixth pass treatment. The decomposition efficiency increased with applied voltage and pH. In addition, homogeneous catalysts such as hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and iron (II) (Fe²⁺) enhanced the removal of phenol. The novel reactor was also used for the deep treatment of phenolic compounds in coking wastewater. Compared with systems using ozonation, the plasma system working under optimal conditions considerably improved the performance of industrial wastewater treatment, which can be regarded as a promising alternative AOP for wastewater remediation.