Plasma production by multi-phase alternating current underwater discharge and its applications to disinfection of micro-organisms

Abstract

This work is concentrated on providing a novel way to produce underwater plasma. The underwater plasma is generated by taking advantage of a multi-phase alternating current voltage source with the frequency of a commercial electric power system. The multi-phase underwater plasma source is composed of 3-phase transformers to supply 12-phase alternating current voltage, a voltage regulator to control the output voltage of the transformers, capillary electrodes, and a water vessel for installation of the capillary electrodes. This arrangement can provide the stable, large-scale underwater plasma by giving the capillary electrodes independent powers without voltage drop due to phase difference made from the voltage source. This plasma system in flowing water would be useful as a continuous massive water treatment for the purification, sterilization, or disinfection of objects or materials.

Keywords:

• Underwater discharge plasma
• 12-Phase transformers
• Water treatment system
• Capillary discharge

Acknowledgment

This work was funded by 2011 National Agenda Project of the Korea Research Council of Fundamental Science and Technology. Also, this work was partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (Grant #2010-0029422).

Notes

Presented at The Fifth Desalination Workshop (IDW 2012), October 28–31, 2012, Jeju, Korea