The experimental and theoretical investigations concerning plasma and their applications has been carried out in the Centre for Plasma and Laser Engineering, The Szewalski Institute of Fluid Flow Machinery, Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdańsk since seventies of the last century. The staff of the Centre, headed formerly by Prof. Z. Zakrzewski and presently by Prof. J. Mizeraczyk, have had experience in the non-thermal plasmas acquired over two decades of investigations and diagnostics of various kinds of low-pressure discharges (DC and pulsed glow discharges, DC and pulsed corona discharges, microwave discharges).
In recent years non-thermal plasma processing has been considered an effective option for controlling emissions of gaseous pollutants. In early years, 1990-1997, the research in the Centre was focused on decomposition of NOx and VOCs of low concentrations (< 0.1 %) by DC and pulsed corona discharges and gliding arc discharge. Also, kinetics of chemical processes during the plasma abatement of gaseous pollutants was modeled. Since 1999 new topics were: plasma processing of highly-concentrated (tens of %) hydrocarbons and their chlorinated and fluorinated derivatives by microwave torch discharges, and hybrid non-thermal plasma-catalyst reactors for NOx abatement.
Present investigations of both Departments concern generation of microwave microdischarges and hydrogen production via reforming of hydrocarbons using microwave plasmas.