A Novel Method to Determine Total Oxidant Concentration Produced by Non-Thermal Plasma Based on Image Processing and Machine Learning

Abstract

Accurate determination of total oxidant concentration ([Ox]_{tot}) in non-thermal plasma (NTP)-treated aqueous systems remains a critical challenge due to the transient nature of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and the subjectivity of conventional titration methods used for [Ox]_{tot} determination. This study introduces a novel, color-based computer analysis (CBCA) method that integrates advanced image processing with machine learning (ML) to quantify colorimetric shifts in potassium iodide (KI) solutions during oxidation. First, a custom-built visual data acquisition system captured high-resolution video of the color transitions in a KI solution during oxidation with an NTP system. The change in [Ox]_{tot} during the experiments was monitored with a standard titrimetric method. Second, the captured frames were processed using a robust image processing pipeline to extract RGB, HSV, and Lab color features. The extracted features were statistically evaluated, and the results revealed strong linear correlations with the measured [Ox]_{tot} values, particularly in the saturation (HSV), a and b (Lab), and blue (RGB) channels. Subsequently, the [Ox]_{tot} measurements and the extracted color features were used to train and validate five ML models. Among them, linear regression and gradient boosting models achieved the highest predictive accuracy (R^2 > 0.990). It was also found that reducing the feature set from nine to four resulted in comparable performance with improved prediction efficiency, especially for gradient boosting. Finally, comparison of the model predictions with real titration measurements revealed that the CBCA system successfully predicts the [Ox]_{tot} in KI solution with high accuracy (R^2 > 0.998) even with a reduced number of features.