Oxidation of elemental mercury using atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma

Abstract The oxidation of gas phase elemental mercury (Hg 0 ) by atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma has been investigated at room temperature, employing both dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) of the gas mixture of Hg 0 and injection of ozone (O 3 ) into the gas mixture of Hg 0 . Results have shown that the oxidative efficiencies of Hg 0 by DBD and the injection of O 3 are 59% and 93%, respectively, with energy consumption of 23.7 J L −1 . This combined approach has indicated that O 3 plays a decisive role in the oxidation of gas phase Hg 0 . Also the oxidation of Hg 0 by injecting O 3 into the gas mixture of Hg 0 proceeds with better efficiency than DBD of the gas mixture of Hg 0 . These results have been explained by the incorporation of the competitive reaction pathways between the formation of HgO by O 3 and the decomposition of HgO back to Hg 0 in the plasma environment.