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Processes
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Advances in Plasma Technology for Environmental and Energy Process Engineering
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Advances in Plasma Technology for Environmental and Energy Process Engineering

A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental and Green Processes".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2026 | Viewed by 1334

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Samuel A. Iwarere

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Guest Editor
Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South Africa
Interests: plasma technology for environmental applications; plasma-activated water for pre-harvest and post-harvest technology; plasma reforming of hydrocarbons; plasma modelling and simulation; plasma application in surface modification of materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Sávio Pessoa

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Guest Editor
Plasmas and Processes Laboratory (LPP), Aeronautics Institute of Technology, São José dos Campos 12228-900, Brazil
Interests: plasma technology; plasma-activated water; plasma medicine; plasma processing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lakshminarayana Rao

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Guest Editor
Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Associate Faculty, Interdisciplinary Centre for Water Research, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
Interests: plasma applications for environmental and energy applications; plasma-activated water for medicine and agriculture; plasma assisted combustion; plasma reforming of hydrocarbons; plasma ammonia cracking

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plasma technology is a versatile and powerful approach to addressing contemporary challenges in environmental protection and energy generation. As a dynamic and highly reactive medium, plasma has been increasingly explored for its potential in environmental remediation, pollutant degradation, renewable energy production, and sustainable industrial processes. Non-thermal plasma, dielectric barrier discharge, gliding arc discharge, and plasma-activated water are among the diverse methodologies demonstrating significant promise in treating contaminated water and air, synthesizing valuable chemicals, and enhancing energy conversion processes. This field integrates fundamental plasma physics, chemistry, and engineering to develop sustainable solutions, offering advantages such as high efficiency, low environmental impact, and adaptability to renewable energy sources.

This Special Issue, titled "Advances in Plasma Technology for Environmental and Energy Process Engineering", welcomes high-quality original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and perspectives focusing on the latest developments, technological advancements, and future outlook in plasma-based processes specifically geared toward environmental sustainability and energy generation.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following research areas:

  • Plasma-based air and water purification;
  • Plasma-assisted waste treatment and recycling;
  • Plasma-activated liquids for environmental applications;
  • Plasma technologies in renewable energy production (e.g., hydrogen production);
  • Plasma processes for CO2 conversion and greenhouse gas mitigation;
  • Plasma-enhanced catalytic processes;
  • Novel plasma reactor designs and scale-up strategies;
  • Fundamental studies on plasma chemistry relevant to environmental processes;
  • Techno-economic and life-cycle analyses of plasma technologies.

Dr. Samuel A. Iwarere
Prof. Dr. Rodrigo Sávio Pessoa
Dr. Lakshminarayana Rao
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wastewater
  • plasma discharges
  • plasma-activated water
  • plasma processing
  • energy
  • reforming of hydrocarbons

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

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  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1159 KB  
Article
Comparative Efficacy of Ultrasound and Cold Plasma (DBD, Glow, Corona) for the Simultaneous Degradation of Aldrin and Dieldrin
by Mairlane Silva de Alencar and Fabiano André Narciso Fernandes
Processes 2025, 13(12), 3982; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13123982 - 9 Dec 2025
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Abstract
The persistence of organochlorine pesticides, such as Aldrin and Dieldrin, in water bodies worldwide necessitates the development of efficient Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for water treatment or remediation. However, comparative studies evaluating the performance of distinct plasma discharge geometries against acoustic cavitation for [...] Read more.
The persistence of organochlorine pesticides, such as Aldrin and Dieldrin, in water bodies worldwide necessitates the development of efficient Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) for water treatment or remediation. However, comparative studies evaluating the performance of distinct plasma discharge geometries against acoustic cavitation for the mineralization of these specific chlorinated cyclodienes remain scarce. This study investigates the comparative efficacy of four non-thermal technologies, ultrasound, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma, glow discharge plasma, and corona discharge plasma, for the simultaneous degradation of Aldrin and Dieldrin in a model contaminated aqueous solution (5 μg/L). All experiments followed a 32-factorial design, and the residual concentrations of these pesticides were quantified by GC-MS after Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME). All four methods achieved high degradation efficiencies, ranging from 92.5% to 100% for Aldrin and 92.6% to 99.2% for Dieldrin. Corona discharge plasma achieved the highest performance, resulting in 100% removal of Aldrin. However, ultrasound proved to be the most advantageous, achieving a 98% removal efficiency for both pesticides under its mildest conditions (3125 W/L ultrasonic power density for 3 min). The study confirmed that while Aldrin is highly susceptible to these technologies, Dieldrin remains the limiting factor for regulatory compliance. Chemical analysis did not conclusively identify any organic degradation by-products, suggesting that these AOPs may promote complete mineralization of the pollutants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Plasma Technology for Environmental and Energy Process Engineering)
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14 pages, 2402 KB  
Article
Characteristics of Nanosecond Bipolar Pulsed Water Electrode Dielectric Barrier Discharge for Ozone Generation
by Weitian Wu, Chenyang Jin, Yifan Wu, Xianyang Zeng, Linsheng Wei, Zhongqian Ling and Lijian Wang
Processes 2025, 13(11), 3619; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr13113619 - 8 Nov 2025
Viewed by 648
Abstract
This study investigates the ozone generation characteristics of a nanosecond bipolar pulse-excited single-water electrode (dielectric barrier discharge) DBD reactor, with a particular focus on the effects of pulse width (Tp) on discharge behavior, plasma parameters, and ozone generation efficiency. The [...] Read more.
This study investigates the ozone generation characteristics of a nanosecond bipolar pulse-excited single-water electrode (dielectric barrier discharge) DBD reactor, with a particular focus on the effects of pulse width (Tp) on discharge behavior, plasma parameters, and ozone generation efficiency. The results indicate that the bipolar pulse voltage displays a symmetric alternating waveform, and the reactor demonstrates excellent thermal stability. Rotation temperature (Trot) remains stable between 307 and 310 K (close to room temperature, which effectively suppresses O3 thermal decomposition), while vibrational temperature (Tvib) stabilizes at 3120 ± 50 K (sufficient to ensure the electron energy required for O2 dissociation). Electron excitation temperature (Texc) increases with both the specific input energy (SIE) and Tp. At SIE = 200 J/L, extending Tp from 200 ns to 1000 ns results in an increase in Texc from 2633 K to 2724 K. The ozone generation efficiency exhibits a “rise-then-decline” trend with increasing Tp. The optimal Tp is 500–600 ns, at which the maximum efficiency reaches 102 g/kWh (corresponding to SIE = 35.95 J/L), which is slightly higher than the peak efficiency of the unipolar pulse-driven water electrode reactor (99.64 ± 0.87 g/kWh, corresponding to SIE = 33.60 ± 1.53 J/L). This work innovatively applies nanosecond bipolar pulse excitation to a single-water electrode DBD reactor for ozone generation, an understudied configuration that integrates the discharge stability advantage of bipolar pulses and the superior cooling advantages of water electrodes. This study offers significant insights into the pulse power excitation of ozone generation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Plasma Technology for Environmental and Energy Process Engineering)
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