Method for abatement of voc in exhaust gases by wet pulse corona discharge

A method for abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in an exhaust gas stream that comprises passing an exhaust gas stream produced from a process selected from the group consisting of papermaking, metal cleaning or plating, paint manufacturing, plastics manufacture, petroleum refining and dye-making and contains about 60 to about 6000 ppm VOC through a pulsed corona discharge chamber in the presence of a spray of water droplets to form one or more oxidation products that dissolve in the water spray droplets and provide an effluent water stream and an effluent gas stream, wherein

• (a) said pulsed corona discharges at a rate of about 0.1 to about 1 kHz,
• (b) the ratio of the water spray rate to the exhaust gas flow is about 0.2 to about 2 milliliters/minute at one standard liter per minute of exhaust gas flow, and
• (c) an expenditure of not more than 50 eV per molecule of VOC is utilized,
• said method providing a destruction and removal efficiency of about 90 percent or more, thereby abating said VOC.

A method for abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in an exhaust gas stream that comprises passing an exhaust gas stream at a temperature of about 40° C. to about 65° C. produced from a papermaking process that contains about 200 to about 4200 ppm VOC through a pulsed corona discharge chamber in the presence of a spray of water droplets to form one or more oxidation products that dissolve in the water spray droplets and provide an effluent water stream and an effluent gas stream, wherein

• (a) said pulsed corona discharges at a rate of about 0.1 to about 1 kHz,
• (b) the ratio of the water spray rate to the exhaust gas flow is about 0.2 to about 2 milliliters/minute at one standard liter per minute of exhaust gas flow, and
• (c) an expenditure of not more than 50 eV per molecule of VOC is utilized,
• said method providing a destruction and removal efficiency of about 90 percent or more, thereby abating said VOC.