Original Article

Effect of discharge parameters on mercury oxidation efficiency in pulsed corona discharge

¹ School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology, 100081 Beijing, P.R. China
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 101408 Beijing, P.R. China
³ College Electrical Engineering and Control Science, Nanjing Tech University, 211816 Nanjing, P.R. China

^* e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
^** e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: 16 October 2025
Accepted: 13 February 2026
Published online: 17 March 2026

Abstract

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology is effective for oxidation of atmospheric elemental mercury. This study focuses on the critical power supply parameters, including voltage, frequency, and pulse width, in a nanosecond pulsed corona discharge system and systematically investigates their influence on both Hg⁰ oxidation and ozone generation under varying discharge conditions. Experimental results demonstrate that increasing the pulse voltage significantly enhances the discharge intensity and the generation of reactive species, thereby raising the Hg⁰ oxidation rate to above 90%. Increasing the discharge frequency leads to a higher overall energy input per unit time and further improves Hg⁰ oxidation efficiency, although the energy per pulse reduces slightly. But changing the pulse width in the range of 400–2000 ns, the Hg⁰ oxidation rate exhibits only minor variation, remaining nearly constant at approximately 90%. These findings provide a theoretical basis and parameter optimization strategy for the industrial application of non-thermal plasma in atmospheric mercury pollution control.