Reactive Bed Plasma Air Purification.

The present invention comprises an alternating current plasma device with a porous spherical or granular material packed into the plasma zone. The device of the invention overcomes limitations of previously described air purification systems by decomposing and deactivating toxic contaminants and producing breathable air. The contaminants that can be successfully processed include toxic vapors, gases and aerosols. In addition, the air by-products such as NOX, O3, and CO are controlled to below toxic levels. The processing efficiency of toxic compounds is high while maintaining air by-product control to produce a breathable effluent. The presence of the porous packing enhances the performance of the device by further reducing air by-product formation, maximizing processing efficiency, reducing power consumption, and increasing volume flow rate i.e., reducing carrier gas residence time. The reactor can be operated at low pressure 20 torr and up to higher pressures 80 psia in predominantly oxygen, nitrogen, argon, air, helium gases or mixtures of these and other gases. It has been established that high relative humidity conditions are favorable to the operation of the device. It is possible to optimize the system performance for highly efficient processing of a wide variety of toxic materials while minimizing air by product formation consistent with producing a breathable effluent.