Les Composés Organiques Volatils (COV), émis dans l'atmosphère sous différentes formes par les activités industrielles, sont considérés comme des polluants principaux de l'air. Pour le traitement des forts débits de gaz faiblement concentrés en COV, caractéristiques des principales sources de COV industriels, il n'existe que très peu de procédés adaptés et efficaces d'où le plasma non thermique. Sa faible consommation d'énergie et sa grande compacité font du traitement par plasma non-thermique un candidat prometteur. Ma thèse consiste à élaborer et étudier un dispositif de traitement des COV basé sur l'utilisation de décharges à barrière diélectrique de surface, décharges ayant la caractéristique de produire un vent électrique dirigé. Pour ce faire, nous avons conçu et optimisé une pompe plasma chimiquement active, composée d'un assemblage de cellules à surfaces actives, capable d'aspirer et de traiter simultanément de l'air pollué en COV. Il a fallu d'abord travailler sur l'optimisation paramétrique : électrique, géométrique et matériaux, d'une surface active élémentaire. Puis concevoir un canal actif constitué de deux surfaces actives optimales placées en vis-à-vis, pour finalement aboutir à la construction d'une pompe plasma prototype ayant un débit de pompage de 10 Nm3/h. Cette pompe originale par sa capacité de traitement chimique, constitue le prototype d'étude physique et chimique de cette thèse. Elle a permis d'effectuer des essais d'élimination de 5 COV différents injectés dans l'air : acétone, méthyl-éthyle cétone, butyraldéhyde, méthyl-valérate, méthyl-butyrate et d'en évaluer les taux d'abattement respectifs, mais aussi, d'identifier à l'aide de la chromatographie en phase gazeuse couplée à la spectrométrie de masse, les principaux sous-produits de la dégradation. / The Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emitted in the atmosphere by various forms is considered as principal atmospheric pollutant. In order to treat a high flow of gaz with a low concentration, few efficient methods exist like the non-thermal plasma. Its low power consumption and compactness make the non-thermal plasma treatment a promising candidate. My thesis deals with the development and study of a VOC treatment device based on the surface dielectric barrier discharges which have the characteristic of producing an oriented electric wind. To do this, we have designed and optimized a chemically active plasma pump, composed of an assembly of active surfaces, capable of drawing and treating simultaneously the air polluted in VOC. At first, we had to work on the optimization of the following parameters: electrical, geometric and material of an elementary active surface. And then conceive an active channel consisting of two optimal active surfaces disposed in a mirror effect, eventually leading to the construction of a prototype plasma pump having a flow rate approximately equal to 10 Nm3/h. This original pump by its capacity of chemical treatment consists on the physical and chemical prototype of the thesis. It allowed testing the conversion of 5 different VOCs injected into air which are: ketone, methyl ethyl ketone, butyraldehyde, methyl penatanoate, methyl butyrate and evaluate the respective abatement rates, but also identifying the main by-products of degradation, using the gas chromatography coupled to the mass spectrometry.

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Moving parts cause vibrations and tend to wear out. In applications where maintenance is complicated, solutions without moving parts are therefore advantageous. Electrohydrodynamic pumps are such a solution. Instead of mechanical propulsion, they use strong electric fields to induce movement in a dielectric cooling liquid. These pumps require very little power, but to generate sufficiently strong electric fields, they need to be fed with very high voltage.  This project explored various methods for designing DC/DC-converters which fulfil the demands of an electrohydrodynamic pump. This was done by altering and combining existing topologies that were deemed to be relevant. The main method for testing and evaluation was by simulating in LTspice. The project also briefly investigated methods of overcurrent protection. This was relevant because gas bubbles in the cooling fluid can cause electric arcs which damage the pumps. Three converter topologies were chosen for further evaluation. First, a conventional resonant Royer-based converter that has previously been used by APR Technologies which was altered by the inclusion of a feedback loop. Second, a high-frequency resonant Royer-based converter with a planar air-core transformer. Third, a transformerless converter with a switched boost converter IC. All circuits included a Cockroft-Walton voltage multiplier bridge. The two resonant Royer-based converters fulfilled all requirements except the one on efficiency, while the transformerless converter fulfilled all requirements except the one on cost, set by APR. The more expensive transformerless converter had a significantly higher efficiency and a wider range of acceptable input voltages. Furthermore three general conclusions were drawn. The first was that planar air-core transformers are not beneficial compared to conventional transformers in these type of applications. The second was that a discrete voltage regulator controlled by feedback from the output is more effective than using a voltage regulator without feedback, as it also eliminates temperature and load variations. The third conclusion was that to protect the circuits from overcurrent, a large series resistor is needed, which causes significantly lowered efficiency.