Plasma Reactor Facing Electrode for Hazardous Gas Decomposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plasma reactors face challenges in efficiently decomposing hazardous materials at varying pressures, particularly greenhouse gases, due to decreased decomposition rates and safety concerns related to the use of water vapor, which limits control over oxygen and hydrogen inputs and requires additional equipment.
Innovation Solution
A plasma reactor design with a pipe-shaped insulator, first and second ground electrodes, and a driving electrode applying AC or RF voltage, featuring a facing part that enhances plasma formation in the sheath region, allowing for increased decomposition rates across a wide pressure range without using water vapor, and separate inlets for oxygen and hydrogen to improve decomposition efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If water vapor is input to a front part of the plasma reactor, then oxygen radicals and hydrogen radicals are provided for stabilizing greenhouse gases, but the decomposition rate of greenhouse gases is low and the amounts of oxygen and hydrogen are unable to be individually controlled
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single water vapor input system into separate oxygen and hydrogen input channels. This segmentation allows independent control of oxygen and hydrogen amounts, enabling optimized decomposition rates while maintaining safety. The separate inlets for oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen-containing gas permit precise control over radical generation for greenhouse gas stabilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters by separating the input of oxygen and hydrogen from a single water vapor source into distinct gas phase inputs. This parameter change enables independent control of oxygen and hydrogen flow rates, concentrations, and timing, thereby optimizing both safety and decomposition efficiency without the limitations of water vapor input.
2Device complexity
If a mere pipe-shaped plasma reactor is used, then the structure is simple, but the decomposition rate of hazardous materials passing through the center area is decreased as pressure is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a facing discharge configuration where the driving electrode faces the ground electrode, generating intense plasma specifically in the sheath region where hazardous materials pass through. This localized plasma enhancement at critical locations (center area and sheath region) improves decomposition rates without requiring complete structural redesign of the entire reactor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a facing electrode configuration that creates plasma in the sheath region dimension, complementing the traditional bulk plasma. This dimensional addition ensures hazardous materials are exposed to plasma not only in the center but also in the sheath region, maintaining high decomposition rates across varying pressure conditions.
3Reliability
If water vapor is used for decomposition, then safety is improved, but additional equipment such as a bubbler is required making the system complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the water vapor input mechanism (bubbler and associated equipment) and replaces it with direct gas phase oxygen and hydrogen inputs. This removal of the bubbler system simplifies the overall system while maintaining the safety benefits of controlled oxygen and hydrogen radical generation for greenhouse gas stabilization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses oxygen-containing gas and hydrogen-containing gas as intermediary substances to deliver oxygen and hydrogen radicals to the plasma reactor. This intermediary approach replaces the water vapor intermediary, eliminating the need for bubblers while maintaining controlled radical generation for safe and efficient greenhouse gas decomposition.
4Productivity
If undecomposed precursors are accumulated inside the vacuum pump, then the vacuum pump can operate, but the precursors may cause explosion due to repeated expansion and shrinking from temperature differences
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by decomposing hazardous materials (including undecomposed precursors) in the plasma reactor before they reach the vacuum pump. This pre-decomposition prevents accumulation of explosive precursors in the pump, eliminating the explosion risk from temperature-induced expansion and shrinking while maintaining vacuum pump operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful undecomposed precursors into beneficial decomposed products through plasma treatment. By transforming hazardous materials into safe substances before they enter the vacuum pump, the system eliminates the explosion hazard while preserving the vacuum pump's operational functionality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design effectively increases the decomposition rate of hazardous materials, reduces pressure dependence, and ensures safety by avoiding explosions, while simplifying the system and improving decomposition performance compared to conventional methods.
Implementation Method 1
a driving electrode (40) fixed to an external circumferential surface of the insulator (20) and connected to a power supply (41) applying an AC or RF voltage
Implementation Method 2
When an AC or RF voltage is applied to the driving electrode (40), a plasma is formed between the driving electrode (40) and the ground electrode part (30)
Implementation Method 3
oxygen radicals and hydrogen radicals are required to stabilize the greenhouse gases
Implementation Method 4
a first inlet (21) into which a first reaction gas is injected and a second inlet (22) into which a second reaction gas is injected, wherein one of the first reaction gas and the second reaction gas is oxygen, and the other is hydrogen or a hydrocarbon
Data Source
AI summary
A plasma reactor for abating hazardous materials included in process gases while being installed on an exhaust path of the process gases toward a vacuum pump is provided. The plasma reactor includes an insulator having a pipe shape through which process gases pass, a first ground electrode connected to a front end of the insulator facing the process chamber, a second ground electrode connected to a rear end of the insulator and provided with a facing part that faces a center of the inside of the insulator along the moving direction of process gases, and a driving electrode fixed to an external circumferential surface of the insulator and connected to a power supply applying an AC or RF voltage.