Design of a multi-electrode dielectric barrier discharge reactor and experimental study on the degradation of atrazine in water

Abstract

Atrazine (ATZ) is widely used in agriculture as a triazine herbicide, and its long-term use can cause serious environmental pollution. This paper independently designed a multi-electrode reactor, explored the output power and energy utilization efficiency of the dielectric barrier discharge reactor, and used the dielectric barrier discharge reactor to treat ATZ solution. The results showed that the degradation efficiency of ATZ was 96.39% at 30 min at an initial ATZ concentration of 14 mg/L, an input voltage of 34 kV, an input current of 1.38 mA, an aeration rate of 100 L/h, and a treatment water volume of 150 mL. The degradation of ATZ was significantly increased by the addition of persulfate (PS), Fe²⁺, and H₂O₂. After adding radical quenchers (EtOH, p-BQ, and FFA), the degradation efficiency of ATZ decreased, indicating that free radicals (•OH, •O₂^-, and ¹O₂) played a key role in the degradation process of ATZ.

Keywords: Atrazine; Dielectric barrier discharge; Low-temperature plasma.