Conversion of Methane to C₂Hydrocarbons and Hydrogen Using a Gliding Arc Reactor

Abstract

Methane conversion has been studied using gliding arc plasma in the presence of argon. The process was conducted at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature. The focus of this research was to develop a process of converting methane to C2 hydrocarbons and hydrogen. The main parameters, including the CH4/Ar mole ratio, the CH4 flow rate, the input voltage, and the minimum electrode gap, were varied to investigate their effects on methane conversion rate, product distribution, energy consumption, carbon deposit, and reaction stability. The specific energy requirement (SER) was used to express the energy utilization efficiency of the process and provided a practical guidance for optimizing reaction conditions for improving energy efficiency. It was found that the carbon deposition was not conducive to methane conversion, and the gliding arc plasma discharge reached a stable state twelve minutes later. Optimum conditions for methane conversion were suggested. The maximum methane conversion rate of 43.39% was obtained under the optimum conditions. Also, C2 hydrocarbons selectivity, C2 hydrocarbons yield, H2 selectivity, H2 yield and SER were 87.20%, 37.83%, 81.28%, 35.27%, and 2.09 MJ/mol, respectively.

A review of plasma-assisted catalytic conversion of gaseous carbon dioxide and methane into value-added platform chemicals and fuels

“…Non-oxidative CH 4 coupling has been performed in multiple systems, gliding arc being one of them. 87,88 In ref. 88, approximately 40% CH 4 conversion was achieved with 20% selectivity towards C 2 H 2 and 40% towards H 2 , which were the main products besides pure carbon and power was found to have little effect on the product distribution.…”

The panorama of plasma-assisted non-oxidative methane reforming

“…Hu et al[98] performed CH4 reforming in the presence of Ar in a GA. CH4/Ar ratio, CH4 flow rate, input voltage and minimum electrode gap were varied to investigate their effects on CH4 conversion and product distribution. As Ar content increased, CH4 conversion as well as C2 and H2 selectivity increased because the Ar metastable state enhanced electron impact reactions.…”

Hydrogen Production via Partial Oxidation Reforming of Methane with Gliding Arc Discharge Plasma

“…In general, the gas-phase non-equilibrium plasma technology includes dielectric barrier discharge (DBD), corona discharges, microwave (MW) discharge and gliding arc discharge (GAD). This promising technology has advantages of high energy density, mild reaction conditions, small-scale equipment, as well as the rapid response time, and has already been applied in many fields like material fabrication and surface treatment, [7][8][9] the decomposition of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), [10,11] direct conversion of simple hydrocarbons to high-value chemicals [12,13] as well as hydrocarbon fuel reforming. [14,15] It is also reported that the assistance of plasma can improve the performance of catalysts.…”