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Influence of Operating Parameters on Plasma-Assisted Dry Reforming of Methane in a Rotating Gliding Arc Reactor

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Abstract

The environmental impact of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane can be reduced if they are used as feedstock to synthesize chemical building blocks such as syngas (CO, H2) via dry reforming. Methane dry reforming is investigated using an Ar/CO2/CH4 rotating gliding arc (RGA) reactor powered by a dual-stage pulsed DC power supply. Tangential gas injection combined with a static magnetic field enabled the rotation and upward displacement of the arc along the conical cathode and the grounded anode, yielding to a larger plasma volume. Different parameters such as peak arc current (0.74 and 1.50 A), total gas flow rate (3.7, 4.7 and 6.7 SLPM), CO2/CH4 ratio (1.0, 1.5, 2.0) and gas inlet preheating (room temperature, 200 °C) were studied to determine the most efficient parameter combination. Gas conversion was measured online using a calibrated mass spectrometer and offline using a gas chromatograph. Noticeable increases in CO2 and CH4 conversions, as well as H2 and CO yields, were obtained when doubling the peak arc current. For the larger peak current, higher H2 yields were obtained at a CO2/CH4 = 1.0, and the best energy efficiencies were obtained at the lowest specific energy input values. No significant effect of the gas inlet temperature on the conversions or yields was found. Trace amounts of acetylene and ethylene, as well as some carbon deposits were observed as by-products of syngas generation. The low amount of by-products obtained implies a good selectivity for CO and H2, i.e., a cleaner syngas when produced with RGA discharge.

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Acknowledgments

J. Martin-del-Campo acknowledges the financial support of CONACyT and the Faculty of Engineering through the McGill Engineering Doctoral Award. The authors acknowledge the contributions of Mitchell McNall in the construction of the RGA, Elmira Pajootan for conducting the SEM analysis and Marianna Uceda for conducting the Raman Spectroscopy. The authors thank the technical staff from the Department of Chemical Engineering of McGill University, especially Luciano Cusmich, Gerald Lepkyj, and Frank Caporuscio for their assistance. This work was financially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Gerald Hatch Faculty Fellowship.

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  1. Plasma Processing Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Jennifer Martin-del-Campo & Sylvain Coulombe

  2. Catalytic Process Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Jennifer Martin-del-Campo & Jan Kopyscinski

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  1. Jennifer Martin-del-Campo
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Martin-del-Campo, J., Coulombe, S. & Kopyscinski, J. Influence of Operating Parameters on Plasma-Assisted Dry Reforming of Methane in a Rotating Gliding Arc Reactor. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 40, 857–881 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-020-10074-2

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