Glow-Discharge Plasma Reactor with Variation of Cathode Shapes for Water Treatment

Water demand will increase every year as human populations on this planet. The availability of freshwater resources is diminishing in response to increasing environmental pollution and destruction. Plasma technology is one effective way to treat water, because plasma technology can break down organic pollution in water and do not generate second pollutant. Therefore, in this study will design a plasma generator from a direct current voltage source and a plasma reactor with variation of cathode shapes. This research also analyzes the effect of variations in cathode shapes on the voltage and methylene blue solution. Plasma generator is made from a simple equipment using a zero-voltage switching (ZVS) driver and a fly back transformer. Plasma reactor is made based on glow discharge with three different forms of cathode end, namely sharp end, flat end, and rounded end. The results show that the sharp end can be used to produce glow discharge faster and the input voltage used to form a glow discharge is smaller than the other. The rounded end will clear the methylene blue solution faster than the other end. The rounded end also can reduce absorbance better than the other end in the same time.