Coupling of CH 4 to C 2 Hydrocarbons in a Packed Bed DBD Plasma Reactor: The Effect of Dielectric Constant and Porosity of the Packing

Mohammadreza Taheraslani and Han Gardeniers
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Mohammadreza Taheraslani: Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands
Han Gardeniers: Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 2, 1-19

Abstract: The conversion of methane was investigated in a packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor operated at ambient conditions. High dielectric BaTiO 3 was utilized as packing in comparison with γ-alumina, α-alumina, and silica-SBA-15. Results show a considerably lower conversion of CH 4 and C 2 yield for the BaTiO 3 packed reactor, which is even less than that obtained for the nonpacked reactor. In contrast, the low dielectric alumina (γ and α) packed reactor improved the conversion of CH 4 and C 2 yield. Additionally, the alumina packed reactor shifted the distribution of C 2 compounds towards C 2 H 4 higher than that obtained for the nonpacked reactor and resulted in a higher energy efficiency compared to the BaTiO 3 packed reactor. This is attributed to the small pore size of BaTiO 3 (10–200 nm) and its high dielectric constant, whereas the polarization inside small pores does not lead to the formation of an overall strong electric field.

Keywords: methane conversion; plasma catalysis; DBD reactor; dielectric packing; C 2 selectivity (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: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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