Dissociation of CO2 by thermal plasma with contracting nozzle quenching

- CO2 decomposition is carried out by a binode thermal plasma reactor.
- A contracting nozzle is employed to quench pyrolysis gas.
- Conversion efficiency on different feed flow rate, discharge power, and plasma gas are investigated.
- The experiments showed excellent CO2 conversion and energy efficiency.

CO2 decomposition is carried out by a binode thermal plasma reactor with a contracting nozzle quenching. The effects of CO2/Ar and CO2/N2 mixture, CO2 feed rate, and plasma discharge power on CO2 conversion and energy efficiency are investigated. The experimental results have turned out the CO2 conversion increased with the decrease of CO2 feed rate and increase of discharge power, but energy efficiency shows an opposite tendency. The excellent results of CO2 conversion 45-48%, energy efficiency 18-19% were achieved by the experimental conditions of N2/CO2 = 1, CO2 flow rate 25 L/min, discharge power 12-15 kW. The results, better than what ever reported, may be contributed to the application of contracting nozzle in combination with a proper cooling tube, which bring about a quick quenching at cooling rate of 107 K/s. Moreover, the discharge power, feed flow rate, and the configuration of contracting nozzle must be matched.

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