Destruction of gaseous toluene via ferro-electric packed bed dielectric barrier discharge plasma in a coaxial cylindrical reactor was carried out at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The difference among three kinds of reactors was compared in terms of specific energy density (SED), energy yield (EY), toluene decomposition. In order to optimize the geometry of the reactor, the removal efficiency of toluene was compared for various inner electrode diameters. In addition, qualitative analysis on by-products and particular discussion on toluene abatement mechanisms were also presented. It has been found that ferro-electric packed bed DBD reactor could effectively decompose toluene. Toluene removal efficiency enhanced with increasing SED. With respect to toluene conversion, 1.62 mm electrode appeared to be superior to 1.06 mm electrodes. BaTiO3 reactor had the highest toluene removal efficiency among the reactors. For NaNO2 reactor, the highest EY could reach 17.0 mg/kWh to a certain extent. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.