Life Sciences Division
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

A Novel Energy-Efficient Plasma Chemical Process for the Destruction of Volatile Toxic Compounds (May 1998)

Researchers in the Life Sciences Division Biochemistry and Biophysics Section have reported several achievements in developing a novel energy-efficient plasma chemical process for the destruction of volatile toxic compounds (VTC). The basic physics/chemistry involved in the dissociative electron attachment to highly excited molecules was unraveled in a plasma mixing apparatus (documenting paper submitted to J. Appl. Phys. in May 1998; and to be presented at the 25th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 1-4, 1998). The researchers have developed a methodology for the evaluation of VTC destruction in a plasma mixing apparatus (documenting paper submitted to Anal. Chem., April 1998), and completed a baseline study on the destruction of VTCs using a DC glow discharge apparatus [documenting paper submitted to J. Phys. D. (Appl. Phys.) in May 1998; and to be presented at the 25th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science, Raleigh, North Carolina, June 1-4, 1998]. Two patent disclosures based on this work have been elected by the ORNL Technology Transfer Office for filing. (Contact: L. A. Pinnaduwage, 574-6540 or llp@ornl.gov)