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US 12,629,634 B2Granted
Siloxane removal off landfill gas using dielectric barrier discharge plasma
AssigneeUniversity of South Carolina
InventorsShamia Hoque, Tanvir Farouk, Malik M. Tahiyat
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Abstract
A dielectric barrier discharge system, employed to reform/remove organosilicon contaminants off a carrier stream to provide a sustainable, end-of-technology way of siloxane removal that will ensure siloxane does not re-enter the carrier stream, as well as generates useful end-products.
Claims15
A dielectric barrier discharge system to remove organosilicon contaminants from a carrier stream comprising:
- a carrier gas containing at least one siloxane or helium but no oxygen;
- a dielectric barrier discharge reactor comprising a quartz tube and forming a cylindrical shaped reactor with at least one electrode surrounding the cylindrical shaped reactor;
- a plasma stream;
- a cold trap;
- a recirculation pathway;
- wherein the system operates at atmospheric pressure and the dielectric barrier discharge reactor is configured with at least one inner wall of the dielectric barrier discharge reactor configured to form irregularly shaped crystalline polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) deposits on at least one inner wall surface of the reactor thereby forming at least one wall morphology on the at least one inner wall surface wherein a shape of the at least one wall morphology forms localized reversal and recirculation zones inside the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to increase localized residence time and increase PDMS conversion when a flow rate for the carrier gas ranges from 400 to 500 seem;
- and
- wherein the carrier gas containing at least one siloxane is diverted along the recirculation pathway to reenter the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to yield a PDMS conversion range of from 30 to 80%.
5 more elements
A method for removing organosilicon contaminants from a carrier stream comprising:
- passing a carrier gas through at least one liquid siloxane or helium but no oxygen to form a carrier gas/liquid siloxane stream;
- forming plasma in the carrier gas/liquid siloxane stream to form an effluent;
- passing the effluent through a cold trap;
- wherein irregularly shaped polydimethylsiloxane deposits out from the effluent in a dielectric bani er discharge reactor configured with at least one inner wall of the dielectric barrier discharge reactor configured to form polydimethylsiloxane deposits from the carrier gas/liquid siloxane stream directly onto the at least one inner wall of the dielectric barrier discharge reactor thereby forming at least one wall morphology on the at least one inner wall surface wherein a shape of the at least one wall morphology forms localized flow reversal and recirculation zones inside the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to increase localized residence time and increase PDMS conversion when a flow rate for the carrier gas ranges from 400 to 500 seem;
- configuring the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to comprise a quartz tube and forming a cylindrical shaped reactor with at least one electrode surrounding the cylindrical shaped reactor;
- wherein the method operates at atmospheric pressure;
- wherein the carrier gas containing at least one siloxane is diverted along a recirculation pathway to reenter the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to yield a PDMS conversion range of from 30 to 80%.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.