Effects of particle size on CO2 reduction and discharge characteristics in a packed bed plasma reactor

By T. Butterworth, R. Elder, R. Allen. 2016

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Abstract Current understanding of the behaviour of plasma discharges within packed bed reactors (PBRs) is very poor, and the effects of many of the parameters that can be varied are still unknown. This article investigates the effects of particle size (180 μm–2000 μm) of two different commonly used packing materials (Al 2 O 3 and BaTiO 3 ) on the conversion of CO 2 in PBRs. The reactor behaviour is observed through determination of product gas composition and plasma power consumption in order to determine CO 2 conversion and reactor efficiency. Electrical characterisation techniques are used to determine reactor burning voltage, and capacitances. These capacitances are subsequently used to quantify the occurrence of reactor partial discharging over a range of different operating conditions. The results indicate that smaller particles (down to 180 μm) can significantly increase CO 2 conversion by up to 70%, provided that the voltage applied is sufficiently high to generate a discharge in the void spaces of the packing material. However, with decreasing particle size, the reactor burning voltage is found to increase rapidly, as well as the tendency of the reactor towards partial discharging.

Subfields: Mechanical Engineering, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging, Surfaces, Coatings and Films

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/a83810b6903d4c05eafdc206f655123b6f87aa3c