ORGANIC POLLUTANT MODEL OF METHYLENE BLUE DYE DECOLORATION BY NON-THERMAL PLASMA ADVANCED OXIDATION PROCESSES (AOPs) WITH PIN TO SURFACE CONFIGURATION

The dye decoloration of methylene blue (MB) solution treated by nonthermal plasma advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has been investigated using a pin to surface configuration plasma system at atmospheric pressure. A homemade flyback transformer was utilized to power up this gas-phase plasma system and its electrical characteristics were presented in the form of voltage amperage waveforms. UV/Vis analysis was employed to monitor the influence of plasma treatment time on the decreasing of MB concentration as well as to measure the decoloration efficiency. It was found that the decoloration efficiency of MB solution can reach 93% after 120 minutes of plasma treatment to result in transparent water. Furthermore, FTIR analysis was performed to recognize the differences in MB organic functional groups before and after plasma treatment and to confirm the mineralization process that was occurred during plasma irradiation. During plasma irradiation, the interaction between hydroxyl radicals and other various reactive species transforms the organic pollutants into the harmless sediments through complex chemistry reactions. Due to all of the plasma treatments were carried out without the addition even a single chemical; it can be conclude that nonthermal plasma system may potentially become one of the competitive environmentally friendly techniques in destruction and decoloration of an organic polluted solution such as textile wastewater.