Water cleaning by pulsed corona discharges

Direct electrical energization methods for water cleaning are under investigation in the framework of the ytriD-project1. The emphasis of the first stage of the project is optimization of the reactor configuration regarding the energy efficiency. A comparison is made between a batch reactor and an aerosol reactor. Two methods of energization are available for the batch reactor: DC and fast pulses. In both cases the anode is above the water surface. In case 1) the cathode is in the water, in case 2) the cathode is below the dielectric bottom of the reactor. The aerosol reactor can only be used with fast pulses. In all cases the ozone concentration in the air is determined as a measure for productivity of active species by the discharge. Phenol degradation is measured to indicate the water cleaning efficiency in each situation. Initial results indicate that the yield of the different reactors is similar in terms of grams per kWh, but the aerosol reactor has by far the shortest treatment time