Atmospheric discharge cold plasmas have been shown to be effective in the reduction of pathogenic bacteria and spores and in the decontamination of simulated chemical warfare agents, without the generation of toxic or harmful by-products. Cold plasmas may also be useful in assisting cleanup of radiological "dirty bombs." For practical applications in realistic scenarios, the plasma applicator must have both a large area of coverage, and a reasonably short dwell time. However, the literature contains a wide range of reported dwell times, from a few seconds to several minutes, needed to achieve a given level of reduction. This is largely due to different experimental conditions, and especially, different methods of generating the decontaminating plasma. We consider these different approaches and attempt to draw equivalencies among them, and use this to develop requirements for a practical, field-deployable plasma decontamination system. A plasma applicator with 12 square inches area and integral high voltage, high frequency generator is described.

Date Published: 8 May 2009
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 7304, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing X, 73040N (8 May 2009); doi: 10.1117/12.818323

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 7304:
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and Explosives (CBRNE) Sensing X
Augustus W. Fountain III; Patrick J. Gardner, Editor(s)