Abstract
A photochemical effect of vacuum ultra-violet light on NO removal was experimentally investigated. The light source was constructed as a discharge lamp of Xe gas enclosed into a cylindrical silica glass tube. Based on the dielectric barrier discharge, excimer light with 172 nm in wavelength was radiated from the Xe lamp. The photon energy exceeded the binding energy between N and O atoms for NO molecule. The experimental evaluation of photochemical NO removal was conducted by the Xe discharge lamp installed into a simple reactor. For NO/N2 mixture gas under a referential condition with exception of O2 molecules, the photochemical decomposition of NO molecules was confirmed from the presented experimental results. For NO/N2/O2 mixture gas with air, the photochemical effect of irradiation light on the NO removal was improved due to increasing NO2 molecules as a secondary product with NO molecules and photochemically dissociated O atoms from surrounding O2 molecules. The experimental results indicated that the photochemical effect enhanced the NO removal rather than the NO2 product. This paper shows the radiation characteristics of 172 nm in wavelength from the constructed Xe discharge lamp, and discusses the NO removal characteristics in terms of the photochemical effect.
