Hydropyrolysis of n- Hexane and Toluene to Acetylene in Rotating-Arc Plasma

Jie Ma, Ming Zhang, Jianhua Wu, Qiwei Yang, Guangdong Wen, Baogen Su and Qilong Ren
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Jie Ma: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Ming Zhang: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Jianhua Wu: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Qiwei Yang: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Guangdong Wen: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Baogen Su: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Qilong Ren: Key Laboratory of Biomass Chemical Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-12

Abstract: Thermal plasma pyrolysis is a powerful technology for converting waste or low-value materials to valuable gaseous hydrocarbons. This paper presents for the first time the hydropyrolysis of n- hexane and toluene in a rotating-arc plasma reactor. Effects of the mole ratio of H/C in the feed, power input and magnetic induction were investigated to evaluate the reaction performance. A lower H/C ratio could lead to a lower yield of C 2 H 2 and lower specific energy consumption, and there existed an optimum range of power input for both n- hexane and toluene pyrolysis within the investigated range. The yield of C 2 H 2 in n- hexane and toluene pyrolysis could reach 85% and 68%, respectively, with respective specific energy consumption (SEC) of 13.8 kWh/kg·C 2 H 2 and 19.9 kWh/kg·C 2 H 2 . Compared with the results reported in literature, the rotating-arc plasma process showed higher C 2 H 2 yield and lower energy consumption, which is attributed to the better initial mixing of the reactant with the hot plasma gas and the more uniform temperature distribution.

Keywords: thermal plasma; hydropyrolysis; hexane; toluene; acetylene (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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