Plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis over BaTiO<sub>3</sub> supported metal catalysts: Process optimization using response surface methodology



Liu, Jin, Zhu, Xinbo, Zhou, Chunlin, Du, Jiali, Gan, Yuting, Chen, Geng and Tu, Xin ORCID: 0000-0002-6376-0897
(2022) Plasma-catalytic ammonia synthesis over BaTiO<sub>3</sub> supported metal catalysts: Process optimization using response surface methodology. VACUUM, 203. p. 111205.

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Abstract

Non-thermal plasma (NTP) assisted ammonia (NH3) synthesis has been performed in a packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. The presence of M/BaTiO3 (M = Fe, Co and Ni) catalysts in the DBD reactor significantly improved the NH3 concentration and energy efficiency with a sequence of Ni/BaTiO3 > Co/BaTiO3 > Fe/BaTiO3 > BaTiO3. Catalyst characterization, including N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction analysis and temperature-programmed desorption of CO2, was performed to get insights into the relationships between the plasma-assisted NH3 synthesis process and M/BaTiO3 catalysts. The improved performance of plasma-assisted NH3 synthesis over Ni/BaTiO3 could be attributed to abundant basic sites and weaker metal-nitrogen (M-N) binding on its surfaces, which benefit the generation of NHx species and desorption of formed NH3. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to assess the contribution of each independent process parameter and explore their mutual effects on the NH3 synthesis process systematically. The results of analysis of variance (AVONA) suggested that plasma discharge power and gas flow rate were the most significant factors in affecting the NH3 concentration and energy efficiency of the plasma-assisted NH3 synthesis process, respectively. Based on the proposed polynomial regression model, the maximum energy efficiency of 2.37 g kWh−1 was achieved at the predicted optimal operating conditions over Ni/BaTiO3.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Plasma-catalysis, Ammonia Synthesis, M, BaTiO 3 catalyst, Response surface methodology, Process optimization
Divisions: Faculty of Science and Engineering > School of Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Computer Science
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 12 Jul 2022 08:52
Last Modified: 18 Oct 2023 17:04
DOI: 10.1016/j.vacuum.2022.111205
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3157214