Reaction mechanism of 1,2-dichloroethane/O₂/Ar in the cold plasma environment

1,2-Dichloroethane(EDC) is known to be hazardous to the environment and public health. In this study, application of radio frequency (rf) plasma as an alternative technology for the decomposition ofEDCwas demonstrated. The species detected in the effluent gas stream included CO₂, CO, HCl, CCl₄, C₂HCl₃, C₂H₃Cl, C₂Cl₄, CHCl₃, C₂HCl₅, COCl₂, C₂H₂, C₂H₄, C₂H₆, and HCOOH. The decomposition fraction of EDC ηC₂H₄Cl₂, (C_in-C_out)/C_in × 100 (%) was dependent on input power. When input power was 80W, stable products such as CO, CO₂, and HCl were dominant and other product species were inhibited. Equivalence ratio [φ = (C₂H₄Cl₂/O₂)_actual × (O₂/C₂H₄Cl_{2 stoichiometric}] was the other important operational parameter in a plasma system. When the chlorocarbon/oxygen flow was fuel rich, more soot formation was found in the plasma reactor. When it was fuel lean, CO₂ and CO dominated over other product species. Within the mixture of EDC and dichloromethane (DCM), the competition of DCM with EDC could affect the decomposition fraction of EDC.