Plasma enhanced CH4 direct conversion in pulsed dielectric barrier discharges

Yuan Gao, Shuai Zhang, Feng Liu, Ruixue Wang, Tielin Wang, Tao Shao

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, plasma catalytic reforming of CH4 is carried out by both microsecond-pulse and nanosecond-pulse dielectric barrier discharges (DBDs). Characteristics of DBD plasma for microsecond-pulse and nanosecond-pulse had been compared. Effects of pulse repetition rate, CH4 flow rate and input power on the convention rate of CH4 and distribution of gaseous products are investigated. Moreover, the corresponding selection of chemical reaction paths is analyzed. The results show that main parts of the gaseous products are H2 and C2H6. The conversion rate of CH4 and the yield of hydrogen increase with the pulse repetition rate, but they decrease with the CH4 flow rate. Furthermore, the conversion rate of CH4 and the yield of hydrogen are high for microsecond-pulse DBD when the pulse repetition rate and the CH4 flow rate are fixed. The energy efficiency in the case of nanosecond-pulse DBD is higher than that in the case of microsecond-pulse DBD. In addition, coking and liquid hydrocarbons appear on the quartz tube and inner electrode at the conditions of high pulse repetition rate and low CH4 flow rate, leading to the reduction of C&H balance. The selectivities of H2 and C2H6 decreases with the increase of the input power in the case of microsecond-pulse DBD, while they increase with the input power in the case of nanosecond-pulse DBD.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)61-69
Number of pages9
JournalDiangong Jishu Xuebao/Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society
Volume32
Issue number2
StatePublished - 25 Jan 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Dielectric barrier discharge
  • Hydrogen production rate
  • Methane conversion
  • Microsecond pulsed discharge
  • Nanosecond pulsed discharge

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