Journal of Microbial & Biochemical Technology

Degradation of odorous compounds formed from Cyanobacteria using atmospheric pressure plasma

2^nd International Conference and Expo on Water Microbiology & Novel Technologies

August 28-30, 2017 Philadelphia, USA

Y S Mok and Jin-Oh Jo

Jeju National University, Korea

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Microb Biochem Technol

Abstract:

In this study, the degradation of odorous substances originating from Cyanobacteria algae was studied by using an underwater dielectric barrier discharge plasma-based reactor made of a hydrophobic ceramic membrane tube and a coaxial electrode. The plasma reactor operates at atmospheric pressure and is energized by an alternating current (AC) high voltage. The main odor compounds were geosmin and 2-methyl isoborneol, and algal degradation was performed on Cyanobacteria. The concentrations of geosmin and 2-methyl isoborneol were determined by a gas chromatograph coupled with a mass spectrometer. Main features of the proposed plasma system using a hydrophobic ceramic membrane is that the gas-liquid contact area is large due to the formation of numerous gas bubbles by the pores of the ceramic membrane and that the plasma-generated reactive species with short lifetimes are immediately transferred to the water for reactions. The voltage applied to the plasma reactor was varied from 10 to 16 kV. It has been found that the atmospheric plasma process used in this study effectively decomposes cyanobacteria algae as well as odor substances. Geosmin and 2-methyl isoborneol were degraded more rapidly in real river water than in distilled water, and 2-methyl isoborneol degradation rate was somewhat slower than geosmin degradation rate. Reduced algal concentrations led to decreases in turbidity and pH. The decomposition efficiency of odor compounds was well characterized by the input electric energy.

Biography :

Y S Mok received his MS and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejon, Korea, in 1991 and 1994, respectively. He has been with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Jeju National University, Korea, since 2000. During the last two decades, he has studied applications of non-thermal plasma to pollution (air/water) control, energy production and material syntheses.