N-Decane Reforming by Gliding Arc Plasma in Air and Nitrogen

Abstract

Plasma cracking of n-decane is carried out in a new type of gliding arc flow reactor in the atmosphere of nitrogen and air, at a flow range of 25-45 L/min with an interval of 5 L/min. The relationship between arc evolution and discharge voltage and current signals is established by synchronous recording with high-speed camera and oscilloscope. It is recorded that the rotating frequency of the gliding arc is in the range of 81-176 Hz, which increases with the rise of the flow rate and has no direct relationship with the type of gas. When air is used as the discharge medium, although the luminous intensity of the arc is weak, arc rotation is relatively stable, and the specific input energy is higher, which is 58% higher than that of nitrogen. In addition, the partial oxidation of n-decane provides extra heat for cracking, which is helpful to improve the efficiency of plasma cracking. The cracking products mainly include hydrogen, ethylene, acetylene, methane, propylene and ethane. The concentration of each component is higher, reaching the maximum value at the flow rate of 40 L/ min, with the hydrogen selectivity of 23.1%. However, when nitrogen plasma is selected, the kinds of products are reduced, containing only hydrogen, ethylene and acetylene, and the concentrations are lower than 0.5%. Two parameters, energy conversion efficiency and carbon based characterization effective cracking rate, were proposed to evaluate the cracking effect of flow reactor.

Essential Features of Gliding Arc Plasma for High-Performance Hydrocarbon Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOxat Low Temperatures

“…Thus, increased reactant conversion will generally be obtained at higher input powers. Treatment of hydrocarbon in a GAD reactor can be an effective mechanism for hydrocarbon cracking. − The field intensity and electron density increase with increasing input power, thus resulting in more hydrocarbon conversion. Several oxygenated hydrocarbons and other derivatives are formed due to plasma application.…”

Experimental study on physical characteristics of dielectric-boosted gliding arc discharge

“…discharge (GAD) is an effective method to generate lowtemperature plasma, which has large throughput, flexibility, and high selectivity for chemical reactions [8]. It can produce low-temperature plasma with high electron density and temperature at a lower cost, which has a wide application prospect [9,10].…”

Characteristics of liquid‐phase continuous arc discharge plasma

“…, NO 3 − can also oxidize iodine ions into iodine as shown in reactions (2)(3)(4)(5). Thus, the actual content of ozone must be calculated after subtracting the amount of iodine ions consumed by…”

“…[1] Liquid-phase discharge plasma has its unique advantages when the reactant is liquid, such as no need to vaporize or spray liquid, plasma-liquid interaction enhancement, and no carbon deposition on the electrodes. [2][3][4][5] Moreover, since the plasma directly contacts the liquid, the problem of low gas-liquid mass transfer efficiency in gas-phase discharge plasma can be overcome, and the multiphysical and chemical effects can be efficiently generated during the process of liquidphase discharge. Liquid-phase discharge plasma generally has the defects of small liquid handling capacity, limited working distance and uncontrollable selectivity, which make the application of this technology a great obstacle.…”