Liquid and solution treatment by thermal plasma: a review

During two last decades, numerous technologies and approaches are presented for treating contaminants in liquids and solutions. Among them, thermal plasma has shown rapid kinetic and high destruction efficiencies due to very high temperature and highly active radicals. Hence, the use of thermal plasma for treatment of the contaminants in liquids and solutions has received a lot of attention in view of its low environmental impacts. This review focuses on thermal plasma, and it describes the current status of liquid and solution treatment using this technology. A comprehensive analysis of the available scientific and technical literature on liquid and solution plasma treatment is presented, including the treatment of a variety of contaminants in liquids and solutions via different kinds of thermal plasma. The principles of thermal plasma generation and the available plasma technologies with potential applications to generate valuable products from liquid waste are presented. In addition, the results of the thermal plasma processes for the treatment of specific contaminants are investigated. In light of the investigated literature, thermal plasma is found to have a significant potential to treat the liquid wastes.