The low-temperature plasma destruction of used refrigerants

Abstract

According to nowadays environmental policy, chemical compounds with chlorine and fluorine (i.e. CFC, halons) should be removed from every day usage in spite of their harmful impact on a protective ozone layer in the troposphere. The CFC’s, HCFC’s and other gases with chlorine or bromine stimulate the destruction of the ozone layer faster then natural processes. In the paper, the decomposition of HCFC-22 refrigerant in the low-temperature argon plasma jet is presented. A description of an experimental stand built at The Institute of Heat Engineering (The Warsaw University of Technology) is included. The construction of the stand and the working parameters of the destruction process are considered. The results of recent experiments and measurements are described. The data from spectral analysis of gaseous products of reaction are also added. In the conclusions of the paper the positive features of plasma technology usage in environmental applications are underlined.