Syngas Production from Propane Using Atmospheric Non-thermal Plasma

Propane steam reforming using a sliding discharge reactor was investigated under atmospheric pressure and low temperature (420 K). Non-thermal plasma steam reforming proceeded efficiently and hydrogen was formed as a main product (H₂ concentration up to 50%). By-products (C₂-hydrocarbons, methane, carbon dioxide) were measured with concentrations lower than 6%. The mean electrical power injected in the discharge is less than 2 kW. The process efficiency is described in terms of propane conversion rate, steam reforming and cracking selectivity, as well as by-products production. Chemical processes modelling based on classical thermodynamic equilibrium reactor is also proposed. Calculated data fit quiet well experimental results and indicate that the improvement of C₃H₈ conversion and then H₂ production can be achieved by increasing the gas fraction through the discharge. By improving the reactor design, the non-thermal plasma has a potential for being an effective way for supplying hydrogen or synthesis gas.     

Disruptive influence of the host cage C60 on the guest He–H+ bond and bonding in H3+

Although a helium atom prefers to stay at the centre of a fullerene (C₆₀) cage and a proton binds with one of the carbon atoms from inside, DFT(MN15)/cc-pVTZ and DLPNO-MP2/def2-TZVP calculations show that the helium atom and the proton in HeH⁺ prefer to stay away from the centre of the cage, weakening the He–H⁺ covalent bond considerably. Both the helium atom and the proton exhibit noncovalent interactions with the carbon atoms of two pentagons at the opposite ends of the fullerene cage. Our calculations also show that a linear arrangement of H₃⁺ (inside C₆₀), pointing towards the centres of two pentagons opposite to each other, with the proton breaking away from H_2, is energetically more favored over the equilateral triangle geometry of free H₃⁺.     

Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane Using a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor: Effect of Helium Dilution and Kinetic Model

The carbon dioxide reforming of methane to synthesis gas was investigated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor at room temperature. The influence of dilution of reactants by helium was studied. We showed that, at a fixed contact time, the conversions of CH₄ and CO₂ increase when the amount of helium in the gas mixture increases. This result is attributed to the “penning ionization” phenomenon, which corresponds to an energy transfer from excited He to molecules in ground state (CH₄, CO₂). The selectivity to products is affected by the dilution factor. As soon as helium is present in a large amount the formation of products resulting from recombination of methyl radicals (such as C₂, C₃ and C₄) is less favourable due to the lowest probability of collisions to proceed. A kinetic model is proposed based on the assumption that the reactant molecules CH₄ or CO₂ are attacked by active species produced by the plasma discharges, and the production of this active species are function of the plasma power. This model which takes into account the dilution by helium fits particularly well the experimental data we obtained.     

Time-resolved mass spectrometric study of the reaction H + Trans-2-Butene

The title reaction was studied in a discharge flow system using mass flow and modulated molecular beam sampling with phase-sensitive detection in order to obtain time-resolved mass spectrometric analysis. At total conversion exceeding 30%, the major products are methane and ethane when initially hydrogen atoms are in excess; when butene is in excess, the major products are ethane and propylene. No hydrocarbons with more than 4 carbon atoms were detected in the products. The reaction is a complicated one since the simplest reaction scheme that successfully simulates the experimental results comprises 20 elementary reactions. The simulation, coupled with sensitivity analysis, shows that with hydrogen atoms in excess, significant amounts of propylene formed in the initial decomposition of the butyl radical react further with hydrogen atoms to form methane and ethane. When butene is in excess, approximately [C₃H₆] ≈ [CH₄] + ½[C₂H₆] which means that this propylene does not react further and almost all methyl radicals end up as CH₄ or C₂H₆. At small conversion, simulation shows that the major product by far is propylene regardless of the [H]/[butene] ratio. The absence of higher hydrocarbons in the products is at variance with earlier results of Rabinovitch and coworkers; however the present work leads to a comparable value for the average rate constant ??_a = ωD/S where D and S is the amount of products arising from the decomposition and stabilization, respectively, of the butyl radical and ω is the collision frequency.     

Reductive and oxidative combustion of polyethylene bags: Characterization of carbonaceous and nitrogenous species

This study aims to experimentally characterize the gaseous carbonaceous and nitrogenous species from the reductive and oxidant combustion of polyethylene plastic bags. The experimental device used is the tubular furnace, coupled to two gas analyzers: a Fourier transform infrared analyzer (FTIR) and a non dispersive infrared analyzer (NDIR). The gaseous products analyzed are: CO, CO₂, CH₄, C₃H₈, C₂H₄, C₂H₂, C₆H₆, HCN, N₂O, NO, NO₂ and NH₃. The experiments were conducted at temperatures ranging from 800 to 1000 °C. The results obtained allow us to note that carbonaceous compounds are mainly emitted as carbon oxides (CO and CO₂) whether you are reductive combustion or oxidative combustion.In addition:

• -Under reductive conditions, combustion is controlled by oxygen. The hydrocarbon most active in the formation of carbon monoxide is ethylene (C₂H₄) and to a lesser extent, from 900 °C, acetylene (C₂H₂). The extents we have made show that ammonia seem to be emitted during combustion with 10% of oxygen.
• -In an oxidative environment, there is production of C₆H₆ in substantial quantities, which partly explains the presence of soot and tar in the smoke exhaust ducts. The C₂H₄, CH₄ and C₂H₂ are hydrocarbons most active in the formation of CO and CO₂. Increasing of concentration of local oxygen from 10 to 21% for the combustion of plastic bags, favors an increase in efficiency of carbon conversion about 30%. About 99% of the carbon of the fuel is found to be converted to carbon oxides or hydrocarbons. Nitrogen monoxide (NO) is the major component among the gases measured with a conversion rate of nitrogen about 20%, three times larger than that obtained during the reductive combustion of plastic bags with 10% oxygen.

     

Neutral and ion chemistry in a C2H4-SiH4 discharge

This paper reports on a mass spectrometric study of the neutral and ionic species in a low-pressure rf discharge sustained in a C₂H₄-SiH₄ mixture diluted in helium. It is shown that C₂H₄ is readily decomposed into C₂H ₂ ^* and C₂H₃. The formation of secondary products such as C₄H₂, C₄H₄, and C₄H₆ is observed and confirms the presence of C₂H₂ in the discharge. Methylsilane (CH₃SiH₃) and ethylsilane (C₂H₅SiH₃) are also synthesized in this discharge. It is also observed that the major ions C₂H ₄ ⁺ , C₃H ₅ ⁺ , SiH ₃ ⁺ , Si₂H ₄ ⁺ , SiCH ₃ ⁺ , SiC₂H ₃ ⁺ , and SiC₂H ₇ ⁺ are not representative of the direct ionization of neutral species. Their formation is thus interpreted on the basis of ion-molecule reactions.     

Gas‐Phase Oxidation of Methyl‐10‐undecenoate in a Jet‐Stirred Reactor

To better understand the chemistry of biodiesel surrogates, the gas‐phase oxidation of a C₁₂ unsaturated methyl ester, methyl‐10‐undecenoate, has been studied in a jet‐stirred reactor in the temperature range 500–1100 K. These experiments were performed using neat fuel synthesized in the laboratory, with an initial fuel mole fraction set as 0.0021, at quasi‐atmospheric pressure (1.07 bar), at a residence time of 1.5 s with dilute mixtures in helium of equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. The maximum obtained conversion was shown to be more than twice lower than that of methyl decanoate under the same conditions. This difference cannot be reproduced by the only published model for an unsaturated ester with a close number of carbon atoms (methyl‐9‐decenoate). A large range of products was quantified in addition to common oxidation products: saturated and unsaturated aldehydes, saturated and unsaturated methyl esters with a second carbonyl function, C₂–C₁₀ alkenes, C₄–C₁₀ dienes, C₄–C₁₀ unsaturated methyl esters, C₈–C₉ saturated methyl esters, and saturated, unsaturated, and hydroxyl methyl esters involving a cyclic ether. Pathways of formation for the products specific to unsaturated ester oxidation were proposed, and possible model improvements were discussed.     

Highly Selective Photoelectroreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Ethanol over Graphene/Silicon Carbide Composites

Using sunlight to produce valuable chemicals and fuels from carbon dioxide (CO₂), i.e., artificial photosynthesis (AP) is a promising strategy to achieve solar energy storage and a negative carbon cycle. However, selective synthesis of C₂ compounds with a high CO₂ conversion rate remains challenging for current AP technologies. We performed CO₂ photoelectroreduction over a graphene/silicon carbide (SiC) catalyst under simulated solar irradiation with ethanol (C₂H₅OH) selectivity of>99 % and a CO₂ conversion rate of up to 17.1 mmol g_cat⁻¹ h⁻¹ with sustained performance. Experimental and theoretical investigations indicated an optimal interfacial layer to facilitate the transfer of photogenerated electrons from the SiC substrate to the few-layer graphene overlayer, which also favored an efficient CO₂ to C₂H₅OH conversion pathway.     

Degradation of organic dyes in water by electrical discharges

The degradation of several organic compounds in aqueous solution: methyl yellow (C₁₄H₁₅N₃), methyl red (C₁₅H₁₅N₃O₂), methyl orange (C₁₄H₁₄N₃NaO₃S), phenol red (C₁₉H₁₄O₅S) and methylene blue (C₁₆H₁₈ClN₃S), was investigated in a pulsed corona discharge. High voltage pulses of 17 kV amplitude, 24 ns rise time and approximately 200 ns duration (full width at half maximum––FWHM) were applied to an array of six hollow needles. When oxygen was bubbled into the solution through the needle, current pulses of 90 A amplitude were obtained and the average power dissipated in the discharge was 19 W at 100 Hz pulse repetition rate. UV-visible spectra of the aqueous solutions show a significant reduction of the absorbance in the visible range, up to 90%, after plasma treatment, suggesting fragmentation of the compounds. Several aliphatic compounds were identified as oxidation products of methyl yellow, methyl red and methyl orange. For methylene blue and phenol red aromatic reaction products were detected as well.     

Reaction of atomic oxygen with cyclopentadiene

The reaction of 1,3-cyclopentadiene (CPD) with ground-state atomic oxygen O(³P), produced by mercury photosensitized decomposition of nitrous oxide, was studied. The identified products were carbon monoxide and the following C₄H₆ isomers: 3-methylcyclopropene, 1,3-butadiene, 1,2-butadiene, and 1-butyne. The yield of carbon monoxide over oxygen atoms produced (?_CO) was equal to the sum of the yields of C₄H₆ isomers in any experiment. ?_CO was 0.43 at the total pressure of 6.5 torr and 0.20 at 500 torr. We did not succeed in detecting any addition products such as C₅H₆O isomers. It was found that 3-methylcyclopropene was produced with excess energy and was partly isomerized to other C₄H₆ isomers, especially to 1-butyne. The excess energy was estimated to be about 50 kcal/mol. The rate coefficient of the reaction was obtained relative to those for the reactions of atomic oxygen with trans-2-butene and 1-butene. The ratios k_CPD+O/k_{trans-2-butene+O}= 2.34 and k_CPD+O/k_1-butene+O = 11.3 were obtained. Probable reaction mechanisms and intermediates are suggested.     

Wet Conversion of Methane and Carbon Dioxide in a DBD Reactor

The influence of water on the plasma assisted conversion of methane and carbon dioxide in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plug flow reactor was studied. The plasma at atmospheric pressure was ignited by a power supply at a frequency of 13.56?MHz. Product formation was studied at a power range between 35 and 70?W. The concentrations of the three gases were altered and diluted with helium to 3?%. FTIR spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy were applied to analyze the inlet and the product streams. The main product of this process are hydrogen, carbon monoxide and ethane. Ethene, ethine, methanol and formaldehyde are generated beside the main products in this DBD in lower concentrations. The conversion of methane, the ratio of the synthesis gas components (n(H₂):n(CO)), and the yield of oxygenated hydrocarbons and hydrogen increases by adding water. The total consumed energy reaches lower values for small amounts of water. Additional water does not influence the generated amount of C2 hydrocarbons and of CO, but decreases the carbon dioxide conversion.     

The Catalytic Dehydrogenation of c2h6 to c2h4 under non-Oxidative Conditions over the 6cr/g-al2o3Catalyst

In the present paper, the catalytic dehydrogenation of C₂H₆ to C₂H₄ under non-oxidative conditions was investigated in a fixed-bed micro-reactor under ambient pressure at 823 - 923 K. The 6Cr/g-Al₂O₃ catalyst was found to be the best catalyst among the g-Al₂O₃, SiO₂, MCM41, MgO and Si-2 supported chromium oxide catalysts. The features of the 6Cr/g-Al₂O₃ catalyst for the reaction could be listed as follows: (1) At 823 - 923 K, the C₂H₄ selectivity of 92.5-78.6% at a C₂H₆ conversion of 9.5-29.8% could be obtained. (2) The catalyst had the good regeneration performance, i.e., could be regenerated by air repeatedly. (3) The main products were C₂H₄, CH₄, H₂ and coke. No carbon oxides were identified.     

The reaction of the hydroxyl radical with acetylene

The reaction of OH with acetylene was studied in a discharge flow system at room temperature. OH was generated by the reaction of atomic hydrogen with NO₂ and was monitored throughout the reaction using ESR spectroscopy. Mass-spectrometric analysis of the reaction products yielded the following results: (1) less than 3 molecules of OH were consumed, and less than 2 molecules of H₂O were formed for every molecule of acetylene that reacted; (2) CO was identified as the major carbon-containing product; (3) NO, formed in the generation of OH, reacted with a reaction intermediate to give among other products N₂O. These observations placed severe limitations on the choice of a reaction mechanism. A mechanism containing the reaction OH + C₂H₂ → HC₂O + H₂ better accounted for the experimental results than one involving the abstraction reaction OH + C₂H₂ → C₂H + H₂O. The rate constant for the initial reaction was measured as 1.9 ± 0.6 × 10^?13 cm³ molecule^?1 sec^?1.     

Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulation on Thermal Decomposition of n-Heptane

The thermal decomposition of n-heptane is an important process in petroleum industry. The theoretical investigations show that the main products are C₂H₄, H₂, CH₄, and C₃H₆, which agree well with the experimental results. The products populations depend strongly on the temperature. The quantity of ethylene increases quickly as the temperature goes up. The conversion of n-heptane and the mole fraction of primary products from reactive molecular dynamic and chemical kinetic modeling are compared with each other. We also investigated the pre-exponential factor and activation energy for thermal decomposition of n-heptane by kinetic analysis from the reactive force field simulations, which were extracted to be 1.78×10¹⁴ s^-1 and 47.32 kcal/mol respectively.     

Behavior of organochlorine impurities in the process of plasma-enhanced synthesis of trichlorosilane

The behavior of the impurity compounds C₂H₂Cl₂, C₂HCl₃, C₂Cl₄, and C₂H₂Cl₄ in the process of plasma-enhanced synthesis of trichlorosilane via the hydrogenation of SiCl₄ in a capacitively-coupled radiofrequency (40.68 MHz) discharge was investigated. It has been shown that the concentration of the impurities substantially decreases during the synthesis of trichlorosilane. The degree of conversion determined in terms of the concentration of an impurity in initial SiCl₄ and in its hydrogenation products depends on the pressure and reaches more than 80% for C₂H₂Cl₂, C₂HCl₃, or C₂Cl₄ and 60% for C₂H₂Cl₄.     

Partial Oxidation of Methane to Methanol with Oxygen or Air in a Nonequilibrium Discharge Plasma

The partial oxidation of methane to methanol with oxygen or air was investigated experimentally and theoretically in a dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD). The predominant parameters of specific electric energy, oxygen content, flow rate, temperature, and gas pressure were determined in CH ₄ /O ₂ and CH ₄ /air mixtures. Optimum selectivities toward methanol formation were found at an oxygen concentration of about 15% in both feed gas mixtures. Low specific energy favors the selectivity toward methanol and suppresses the formation of carbon oxides. The experiments indicate that high methanol selectivities can be obtained at high methane conversion. The highest methanol yield of 3% and the highest methanol selectivity of about 30% were achieved in CH ₄ /O ₂ mixtures. In CH ₄ /air mixtures, as high as 2% methanol yield was also obtained. In addition, other useful products, like ethylene, ethane, propane, and ethanol, were detected. Experiment and numerical simulations show that the formation of H ₂ O and CO has a strong negative influence on methanol formation.     

Conversion of natural gas to C2 hydrocarbons through dielectric-barrier discharge plasma catalysis

The experiments are carried out in the system of continuous flow reactors with dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) for studies on the conversion of natural gas to C₂ hydrocarbons through plasma catalysis under the atmosphere pressure and room temperature. The influence of discharge frequency, structure of electrode, discharge voltage, number of electrode, ratio of H₂/CH₄, flow rate and catalyst on conversion of methane and selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons are investigated. At the same time, the reaction process is investigated. Higher conversion of methane and selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons are achieved and deposited carbons are eliminated by proper choice of parameters. The appropriate operation parameters in dielectric-barrier discharge plasma field are that the supply voltage is 20–40 kV (8.4–40 W), the frequency of power supply is 20 kHz, the structure of (b) electrode is suitable, and the flow of methane is 20–60 mL · min⁻¹. The conversion of methane can reach 45%, the selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons is 76%, and the total selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons and C₃ hydrocarbons is nearly 100%. The conversion of methane increases with the increase of voltage and decreases with the flow of methane increase; the selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons decreases with the increase of voltage and increases with the flow of methane increase. The selectivity of C₂ hydrocarbons is improved with catalyst for conversion of natural gas to C₂ hydrocarbons in plasma field. Methane molecule collision with radicals is mainly responsible for product formation.     

Dry Reforming of Methane by DC Spark Discharge with a Rotating Electrode

A novel type of plasma reactor having a rotating electrode is proposed for CO₂ reforming of methane without catalyst at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Results indicated that employing rotating ground electrode leads to a stable discharge for any period of time. Effects of feed composition, feed flow rate, applied power and electrodes separation on the carbon dioxide and methane conversions as well as the products selectivity were investigated. Increasing CO₂/CH₄ molar ratio in the feed favors the reagents conversion and consequently promotes the formation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. If the target product is hydrogen, it is proposed to operate the reactor at CO₂/CH₄ = 1 molar ratio and if the target product is carbon monoxide then CO₂/CH₄ = 3 molar ratio is the preferred option for feed composition. This reactor system has advantages of stable operation and high conversion ability. Also, the obtained syngas with flexible molar ratio of H₂ to CO is suitable for vast industrial applications.     

Kinetics of the thermal decomposition of pyridine in a flow system

The kinetics of the pyrolysis of pyridine was studied in the temperature range of 875–1050°C, at 1 atm total pressure, in a Vycor stirred-flow reactor. Initial concentrations ranged from 0.25 to 2 mol % in helium and reaction times from 0.25 to 4 sec. It was found at the lower temperatures that the reaction was mixed first and second order. At the higher temperatures an autocatalytic term, zero order in the substrate and first order in the concentration of pyridine decomposed, was necessary in addition to the other two terms to describe the kinetic data. Most of the product was in the form of a primarily aromatic, nonvolatile tar; the major volatile products were HCN and C₂H₂. An increase in the surface-to-volume ratio of the reactor decreased the rate, indicating a radical chain or sequential reaction with radical consumption on the surface. Experiments with additives showed that C₂H₂ increased the rate. Using the kinetic and product data, some mechanistic considerations are discussed, and a mechanism is proposed to account for the first-order term.