Production of hydrogen-rich syngas from methane reforming by steam microwave plasma

• Published in: Journal of industrial and engineering chemistry (Seoul, Korea) Vol. 34; pp. 286 - 291
• Main Authors: Choi, Dae Hyun, Chun, Se Min, Ma, Suk Hwal, Hong, Yong Cheol
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 25.02.2016; 한국공업화학회
• Subjects: Carbon; Catalysis; Catalysts; Hydrogen; Methane; Microwave; Microwave plasmas; Reforming; Reverse vortex; Steam electric power generation; Steam plasma; 화학공학; Microwave; Reforming; Reverse vortex; Steam plasma; Hydrogen
• ISSN: 1226-086X; 1876-794X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jiec.2015.11.019

•The steam microwave plasma contains highly active species and high-temperature plasma flame.•The steam plasma provides eliminating the need for catalysts in steam reforming reaction.•Methane reforming reaction by using steam plasma is showing high H2 concentration more than 70-vol.%. Steam-methane reforming (SMR) is most commonly carried out in a catalytic reactor at temperatures from 700 to 1000°C. During the reforming reaction, the catalyst agglomerates under the high temperatures, showing degradation of catalytic performance with carbon deposition on the catalyst surface. Here, we report methane reforming in a steam plasma generated by microwaves at atmospheric pressure without the use of catalysts. The plasma reforming system is mainly composed of a 2.45GHz microwave plasma torch and a plasma nozzle. Methane gas is introduced into the steam microwave plasma, which is stabilized by a swirl flow. The steam microwave plasma provides highly active species and a high-temperature plasma flame, enhancing the chemical reaction rate and eliminating the need for catalysts. We investigated the dependence of the hydrogen concentration on the steam to carbon ratio at a given plasma power. Using a specially designed plasma nozzle, we achieved high hydrogen concentrations (>70vol.%) in the effluent streams.