Nitrogen Fixation as NOx Enabled by a Three-Level Coupled Rotating Electrodes Air Plasma at Atmospheric Pressure

In this paper, a three-level coupled rotating electrodes air plasma at atmospheric pressure is developed for evaluation of nitrogen fixation. Factors influencing the NO_x production rate and energy cost, including airflow rate, the input H₂O concentration, blade numbers at each rotating electrode and rotating speed, are examined. Air flow rates prove to have no effect on the rotational temperature of N₂ 337.1 nm and the emission intensities of N₂⁺ and N₂, but specific energy input (SEI) and species’ residence time can be shorter with higher air flow rates, resulting in lower NO_x concentration and energy cost. The addition of H₂O also has a positive effect on both NO_x concentration and energy cost. Optical emission spectrum (OES) shows that air?+?H₂O plasma has stronger 336 nm (NH) and 309 nm (OH) emission lines than air plasma, suggests NH and OH are the key species in NO_x enhancement. The most energy efficient conditions are found at airflow rate of 15 l min^?1, 12% H₂O concentration, with 4 blades on each rotating speed. Under these conditions, the lowest energy cost is observed to be 165 GJ/tN.