Unsteady state simulation of C2H4 and H2 production in plasma reactor via cracking of methane

One-dimensional simulation of methane cracking in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor was carried out to investigate the effects of the designed variables such as voltage and frequency in AC discharge on hydrogen and ethylene production. DBD discharges operate at high frequencies of 10kHz to 50kHz and voltages of 4kv to 8kv peak to peak. The kinetic model was developed for 28 reactions and 15 species which described the rate of production and concentration profile in the reactor. The electrons diffused with drift velocity (Vd) caused a momentum that was the basis of the reactions happened in the system. Consequently, reactive species formed by collision of electrons made those reactions proceed. This will lead to the formation of new species. In this paper, the effect of voltage and frequency as independent variables on the treatment of ethylene and hydrogen production as a function of time is investigated.

Keywords:

plasma reactor , simulation , ethylene , hydrogen , electron density , DBD