A large research reactor for performingdielectric barrier discharge (DBD) experiments at atmospheric pressure (AP) has been used with argon (Ar) carrier gas under constant plasma conditions (f ¼ 20 kHz, V a (f) ¼ 8 kV p-p ¼ 2.8 kV rms ). Various permanent gases (H 2 , O 2 , N 2 , light hydrocarbons) and some heavier organic molecules were introduced as reactive ''dopant'' flows, F d , at ‰ concentrations in the F ¼ 10 standard liters per minute (slm) flow of argon. We have earlier perfected and reported a method for measuring E g , the energy dissipated per cycle of the applied a.c. voltage, and DE g , the energy difference with and without reactive dopant in the Ar flow. The latter and F d permit calculation of E m , the energy absorbed from the plasma by each dopant molecule. Plots of E m versus F d and 1/F d yield much valuable information about excitation, fragmentation, and polymerization in the DBD plasma environment. Optical emission (OES) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies help to further enhance and complement interpretation of measured data.