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Experimental study of steam and carbon dioxide microwave plasma for advanced thermal treatment application

Experimental study of steam and carbon dioxide microwave plasma for advanced thermal treatment application
Experimental study of steam and carbon dioxide microwave plasma for advanced thermal treatment application
Pollution reduction from waste management and energy generation is necessary to mitigate climate change and is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. This can be achieved through the development of innovative energy recovery technologies from biomass and wastes, such as microwave plasma gasification. An envelope of stable CO2 plasma operation is described, by varying working gas flow rate at applied microwave powers between 1 and 6 kW, whereas H2O plasma operation is possible with flow rate ranging from 20 to 50 g/min and microwave powers between 2.5 and 6 kW. The temperature generated in a large chamber connected to the plasma torch is recorded, reaching up to 850 °C, showing a heterogeneous temperature distribution. In addition, optical emission spectroscopy measurements provide an insight into plasma chemistry and demonstrate the dissociation of CO2 and H2O molecules at extremely high temperatures of up to 6300 °C assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium. The experimental results demonstrate that the microwave plasma torch provides an ideal environment for gasification with high temperature and very chemically reactive species. This study provides valuable information for the design of microwave plasma gasification reactors with great potential for effective solid feedstock conversion into high quality syngas for energy production.
Carbon dioxide, Gasification, Microwaves, Plasma, Steam
0360-5442
1-9
Vecten, S.
cde56c21-45fa-400a-aec5-92369eac08e6
Wilkinson, M.
7eb3df26-164f-4dae-807d-c3fb684c56b8
Martin, A.
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Dexter, A.
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Bimbo, N.
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Dawson, R.
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Herbert, B.
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Vecten, S.
cde56c21-45fa-400a-aec5-92369eac08e6
Wilkinson, M.
7eb3df26-164f-4dae-807d-c3fb684c56b8
Martin, A.
a54fab7d-a12f-4d3a-8088-ac54547aa016
Dexter, A.
9bf8be13-400f-4980-a9c5-00110214028d
Bimbo, N.
53d9fc24-e2c1-4e2d-8d75-8dc640d8adda
Dawson, R.
af20fae6-9dec-4053-9923-0c55a15d24b2
Herbert, B.
6c768449-1833-4b20-b466-1a4d5c4e6f31

Vecten, S., Wilkinson, M., Martin, A., Dexter, A., Bimbo, N., Dawson, R. and Herbert, B. (2020) Experimental study of steam and carbon dioxide microwave plasma for advanced thermal treatment application. Energy, 207, 1-9, [118086]. (doi:10.1016/j.energy.2020.118086).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Pollution reduction from waste management and energy generation is necessary to mitigate climate change and is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. This can be achieved through the development of innovative energy recovery technologies from biomass and wastes, such as microwave plasma gasification. An envelope of stable CO2 plasma operation is described, by varying working gas flow rate at applied microwave powers between 1 and 6 kW, whereas H2O plasma operation is possible with flow rate ranging from 20 to 50 g/min and microwave powers between 2.5 and 6 kW. The temperature generated in a large chamber connected to the plasma torch is recorded, reaching up to 850 °C, showing a heterogeneous temperature distribution. In addition, optical emission spectroscopy measurements provide an insight into plasma chemistry and demonstrate the dissociation of CO2 and H2O molecules at extremely high temperatures of up to 6300 °C assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium. The experimental results demonstrate that the microwave plasma torch provides an ideal environment for gasification with high temperature and very chemically reactive species. This study provides valuable information for the design of microwave plasma gasification reactors with great potential for effective solid feedstock conversion into high quality syngas for energy production.

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Experimental MPT_Accepted_manuscript - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 6 June 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 20 June 2020
Published date: 15 September 2020
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund ( ERDF ) through the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation (CGE) in partnership between Lancaster University and Stopford Projects Ltd. This research was also supported by Innovate UK through the grant number 133710 . Publisher Copyright: © 2020
Keywords: Carbon dioxide, Gasification, Microwaves, Plasma, Steam

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 442235
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/442235
ISSN: 0360-5442
PURE UUID: 08efb607-7368-4709-a035-267f8a32ed84
ORCID for N. Bimbo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8740-8284

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Date deposited: 09 Jul 2020 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:43

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Contributors

Author: S. Vecten
Author: M. Wilkinson
Author: A. Martin
Author: A. Dexter
Author: N. Bimbo ORCID iD
Author: R. Dawson
Author: B. Herbert

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