Ion-drift reactor™ concept

• Published in: Fuel processing technology 2000-06, Vol.65, p.231-246
• Main Author: Babko-Malyi, Sergei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution control; Electrostatic precipitators; Ion-drift reactor; Non-thermal plasma
• ISSN: 0378-3820; 1873-7188
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-3820(99)00100-9

This paper will focus on one of the advanced air pollution control (APC) technologies currently under development at MSE Technology Applications (MSE-TA). This technology, which has a patent pending, is an ion-drift reactor™ (IDR™). One of the applications of this reactor is to remove low-concentration fine particulate and hazardous pollutants, such as mercury vapor, products of incomplete combustion (PICs), and dioxins/furans from the air or incineration offgas. The pollutants are electrically sensitized by reagent ions by means of charge-exchange, hydrogen transfer, electron and ion attachments, hydrogen abstraction, and other reactions initiated by injection of reagent ions into the contaminated offgas or airstream. Selectively sensitized pollutant particles, clusters and molecules are then removed from the airstream by their drift in the electric field. In contrast to electrostatic precipitators and different types of other non-thermal plasma (NTP) technologies, the reagent ions are generated separately in the ion source of this new device and then injected into the contaminated offgas stream. This is thought to allow much better control over the discharge parameters and to allow much higher reaction selectivity than that of conventional NTP technologies. In comparison with conventional APC technologies, such as adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, or absorption, an IDR™ utilizes ion-drift together with diffusion as the mechanisms of mass transfer, which reduces the reactor residence time and the differential pressure drop across the reactor in analogous conditions. These advantages are especially important for removal of mercury, other trace elements, and fine respirable particulate (PM 2.5) from the incineration offgas and air.