Evaluation of CO2 methanation in two packed-bed DBD plasma reactors connected in series

Author

Estopañán Moreno, Eduard

Abstract

The present work accomplishes the partial reduction of CO2 into CO (decomposition reaction) in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor, packed with copperbased pellets and coupled to a photovoltaic system. Furthermore, this research aimed to study the hydrogenation of CO into CH4 (methanation reaction) in a second DBD plasma reactor with the same characteristics as the previous one. Both working in ambient conditions. Results indicated that lower CO2 concentrations provided higher conversions into CO. The maximum CO conversion obtained in this work was 74.2%, using an Ar flowrate of 1 Nl/min, a carbon dioxide flowrate of 3 Nml/min, a power of 48-51W, a frequency of 20kHz and minimum duty cycle. From a life cycle assessment approach, it was determined that the use of a photovoltaic system coupled to the DBD reactor improved the sustainability of the process. It was estimated that, with optimal conditions, it would be possible to compensate 79.4% of the CO2 emissions associated to the decomposition process. It was also observed that at lower concentrations of diluent gas, the methane production slightly increased. Nevertheless, methane yields obtained in this work were low (up to 1.1%).

 

Director

Pou Ibar, Josep Oriol
González Olmos, Rafael

Degree

IQS SE - Undergraduate Program in Chemical Engineering

Date

2021-06-14