Booth Id:
ENEV080T
Category:
Environmental Engineering
Year:
2018
Finalist Names:
Karwacinski, Victor (School: Trinity School at Greenlawn)
Sgroi, Mary (School: Trinity School at Greenlawn)
Abstract:
Exposure to organic environmental contaminants in water supplies can lead to adverse
health effects. Non-thermal plasmas have been proposed for waste-water treatment as
a means to degrade organic contaminants without the risks that traditional methods of
water purification bring, which include introducing harmful byproducts. In this work, a
non-thermal, atmospheric-pressure direct current (DC) plasma was used to degrade
methylene blue (MB). This acted as a model system for using plasma to destroy organic
contaminants in water. The effects of both air and argon plasmas were observed on MB
solutions over various short time intervals. At exposure times above 10 minutes, argon
plasma was more effective than air plasma. For both plasmas, longer exposure time led
to greater chemical conversion, and the solutions did not recover their color after
stirring, implying an irreversible reaction involving MB. To investigate the role of hydroxyl
radicals, glycerol and 2- propanol were used as scavengers. Addition of glycerol
to solutions after argon plasma treatment resulted in minimal MB recovery whereas
addition of 2-propanol induced an approximately 13% recovery. The results suggest that
OH radicals are partially responsible for MB degradation. However, there are limitations
in measuring OH radical concentrations present or reacted in the solution. More
research should be conducted to better understand degradation interactions. This
model system furthers our understanding of the role of plasma-induced chemistry in
water treatment applications. Elucidating the chemistry responsible for contaminant
degradation may lead to the development of alternative systems for water purification
using non-thermal, atmospheric plasmas.
Awards Won:
Coalition for Plasma Science (CPS): First Award of 2,500.00