Post-plasma quenching to improve conversion and energy efficiency in a CO2 microwave plasma

E.R. Mercer*, S. Van Alphen*, C.F.A.M. van Deursen, T.W.H. Righart, W.A. Bongers, R. Snyders, A. Bogaerts, M.C.M. van de Sanden, F.J.J. Peeters

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Transforming CO2 into value-added chemicals is crucial to realizing a carbon-neutral economy, and plasmabased conversion, a Power-2-X technology, offers a promising route to realizing an efficient and scalable process. This paper investigates the effects of post-plasma placement of a converging-diverging nozzle in a vortexstabilized 2.45 GHz CO2 microwave plasma reactor to increase energy efficiency and conversion. The CDN leads to a 21 % relative increase in energy efficiency (31 %) and CO2 conversion (13 %) at high flow rates and nearatmospheric conditions. The most significant performance improvement was seen at low flow rates and subatmospheric pressure (300 mbar), where energy efficiency was 23 % and conversion was 28 %, a 71 % relative increase over conditions without the CDN. Using CFD simulations, we found that the CDN produces a change in the flow geometry, leading to a confined temperature profile at the height of the plasma, and forced extraction of CO to the post-CDN region.
Original languageEnglish
Article number126734
Number of pages9
JournalFuel
Volume334
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Plasma -based conversion
  • CO 2 dissociation
  • CO 2 conversion
  • Power-2-X
  • Thermal plasma
  • Nozzle

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