Nonthermal plasma reactors for the production of light hydrocarbon olefins from heavy oil

Abstract

During the last decade, nonthermal plasma technology was applied in many different fields, focusing attention on the destruction of harmful compounds in the air. This paper deals with nonthermal plasma reactors for the conversion of heavy oil into light hydrocarbon olefins, to be employed as gasoline components or to be added in small amounts for the catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxide compounds in the treatment of exhaust gas at power plants. For the process, the plate-plate nonthermal plasma reactor driven by AC high voltage was selected. The reactor was modeled as a function of parameter characteristics, using the methodology provided by the statistical experimental design. The parameters studied were gap distance between electrodes, carrier gas flow and applied power. Results indicate that the reactions occurring in the process of heavy oil conversion have an important selective behavior. The products obtained were C1-C4 hydrocarbons with ethylene as the main compound. Operating the parameters of the reactor within the established operative window of the system and close to the optimum conditions, efficiencies as high as 70 (mul/joule) were obtained. These values validate the process as an in-situ method to produce light olefins for the treatment of nitrogen oxides in the exhaust gas from diesel engines

Hexadecane Cracking in a Hybrid Catalytic Pulsed Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Reactor

“…Various publications reported different plasma reactors to produce hydrogen and light hydrocarbons from heavy hydrocarbon. ,− Moreover, Biniwale et al have explored iso-octane cracking through a catalytic tubular DBD reactor. They employed three types of catalyst (Ni–W, Ni–Mn, and Rh–Ce) and illustrated that Rh–Ce catalyst is the best one in viewpoint of hydrogen production .…”

Applications of Plasma-Liquid Systems: A Review

“…Finally, heavy oil has also been modified by plasma in the last decade as a promising conversion method for different kinds of hydrocarbons [337,338,339]. Crude heavy oil has been submitted to a DBD plasma treatment using different gases and various treatment times by Honorato et al [340], after which the properties of the heavy oils were characterized and the basic sediments and water contents of the oil was determined using 1 H low and high field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR).…”

The Statistical Experimental Design for Chemical Reactors Modeling

“…The main products obtained were ethylene and hydrogen. Other olefins of low molecular weight (C 3 and C 4 ) were also obtained, but in very low concentrations [2] [3].…”