Research On Discharge Characteristics Of Gliding Arc And Partial Oxidation Reforming Of Methane For Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen is regarded as the most developmental clean energy in the 21st century and it is an excellent energy carrier.The development and utilization of hydrogen are the key to the development of hydrogen-powered vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell technology.As an new technology with rapid start and stop,a variety of fuels to be processed and no catalyst,plasma reforming technology for hydrogen production can overcome the disadvantages of traditional catalytic reforming technology,such as high operating temperature,slow start and stop,complex procedure and easy deactivation of catalyst,etc.And it has unique advantages in the field of on-board hydrogen production.At present,most of the electric power supplies used for partial oxidation reforming of methane for hydrogen production by gliding arc discharge plasma are DC electric power supplies,fifty hertz AC electric power supplies and low frequency AC electric power supplies.The experimental research on high-frequency AC electric power supplies are relatively less.This paper designs a gliding arc discharge plasma reactor driven by a 40 k Hz AC constant-current electric power supply and a high voltage and high frequency AC electric power supply that the frequency is adjustable.Based on the research of electrical and optical characteristics of gliding arc discharge plasma,it is used in the partial oxidation reforming of methane for hydrogen production.The reaction mechanism of hydrogen production is discussed with the results of emission spectrum analysis.The main content of this paper are as follows:1.Research on the electrical characteristics of gliding arc discharge plasma.Using air as carrier gas,combining oscilloscope,MATLAB/Simulink software,Fast Fourier Transform（FFT）and analysis method of non-sinusoidal circuit with harmonics,the volt-ampere characteristics of gliding arc,harmonics of arc voltage and arc current were analyzed.The effects of gas flow rate,power supply current and power supply frequency on breakdown voltage,total harmonic distortion rate,average discharge power and reactive power were investigated.Based on the average discharge power and reactive power,the equivalent circuit model of gliding arc discharge was discussed.2.Research on the optical characteristics of gliding arc discharge plasma.Using air as carrier gas,Princeton HRS-750SS emission spectrometer and Specair 2.0 spectral software were used to analyze the emission spectrum of air discharge.The influence of gas flow rate,power supply current and power supply frequency on electron density,vibrational temperature,rotational temperature and the intensity of characteristic spectral line（OH（A-X）308.96 nm,N₂（C-B）337.09 nm,N₂⁺（B-X）391.40 nm）were investigated.3.Research on the partial oxidation reforming of methane for hydrogen production with gliding arc discharge plasma.Using methane and air as carrier gases,the effects of oxygen to carbon ratio（O/C）,power supply current and average discharge power on the methane conversion rate,hydrogen selectivity,hydrogen concentration and energy efficiency were investigated,and the Princeton HRS-750SS emission spectrometer was used to diagnose the active particles during discharge.The reaction mechanism of hydrogen production from partial oxidation reforming of methane with gliding arc discharge plasma was analyzed.