Plasma activation of CO<sub>2</sub> in a dielectric barrier discharge: A chemical kinetic model from the microdischarge to the reactor scales



Alliati, Martin, Mei, Danhua and Tu, Xin ORCID: 0000-0002-6376-0897
(2018) Plasma activation of CO<sub>2</sub> in a dielectric barrier discharge: A chemical kinetic model from the microdischarge to the reactor scales. JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION, 27. pp. 308-319.

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Abstract

The conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals or fuels has attracted much attention over the past years. Plasma technology represents a highly promising alternative due to its non-equilibrium nature, deemed crucial for CO2 dissociation reactions. Gaining a deep understanding of the reaction mechanisms involved under plasma conditions is essential to improve the performance of such processes. Among other theoretical calculations, plasma chemical kinetic modelling constitutes a very suitable approach to address this challenge. In this work, a zero-dimensional model of a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor is applied to CO2 splitting, providing a novel approach for including experimental parameters as discharge power and flow rate based on the analysis of the different scales involved. The model choices is extensively discussed as regards experimental parameters, cross-sectional data and the chemical reactions considered. The predictions of the model are in good agreement with existing experimental data and therefore the model is considered valid to analyse the CO2 splitting reaction mechanism based on its results. It is concluded that the electron impact dissociation is the dominant process towards CO2 conversion, which could explain the low energy efficiency achieved since only ∼10% of the electron energy is consumed by mechanism. The remaining energy would be lost towards vibrational excitation not leading to CO2 dissociation in DBD reactors.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Dielectric barrier discharge, Non-thermal plasma, CO(2)conversion, Plasma chemical kinetic modelling, Reaction pathways
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 08 Aug 2018 06:32
Last Modified: 13 Oct 2023 18:11
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcou.2018.07.018
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3024700