https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap/2017170201
Regular Article
Spectroscopic investigation of a dielectric barrier discharge in modified atmosphere packaging
1
BioPlasma Research Group, Dublin Institute of Technology,
5 Sackville Place,
Dublin 1, Ireland
2
Faculty of Physics, University of Belgrade,
P.O.B. 368,
Belgrade, Serbia
3
Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK
* e-mail: vladimir@ff.bg.ac.rs
Received:
3
May
2017
Received in final form:
18
August
2017
Accepted:
2
October
2017
Published online: 10 November 2017
Diagnostics of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), in a sealed package (with and without meat) filled with gas mixtures of oxygen and carbon-dioxide (O2–CO2), is reported. The generation and evaluation of the plasma chemistry induced within the confines of the sealed package is studied. The plasma discharges were analyzed by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and optical absorption spectroscopy (OAS) over a range of plasma process parameters. The study includes a detailed experimental investigation of the spatial and temporal spectroscopic data and links them with plasma kinetics. The results from the spectral radiation from package provide information about the electron energy distribution function. The experimental data indicates that the humidity level in the package with and without meat is unchanged, and that the gas temperature was not significantly modified. Oxygen and nitrogen radicals (trapped gas atmosphere and modified atmosphere) are increased in the package containing meat; at the same time there is no evidence of the presence of carbon monoxide molecules. The role of the nitrogen molecule in the quenching of O2 and CO2 molecules is also evaluated.
© EDP Sciences, 2017
