Simulated biogas oxidative reforming in AC-pulsed gliding arc discharge

High-efficient oxidative reforming of simulated biogas in a novel AC-pulsed tornado gliding arc discharge was performed. The effects of two important factors, O2/CH4 ratio and specific energy input (SEI), were studied. Increasing the O2/CH4 ratio positively affected the reactant conversion, dry-basis concentration, and energy cost of syngas over the tested range of O2/CH4 ratios. Increasing the SEI increased the reactant conversion and dry-basis concentration of syngas but significantly increased the energy cost as well. Remarkable CO2 conversion 25% (27%) and high dry-basis concentration of syngas 36% (71%) with a low energy cost of 66 kJ/mol (32 kJ/mol) were achieved for simulated biogas reforming with air (pure O2) in this novel gliding arc reactor. In addition, in the oxidative reforming of simulated biogas, syngas production was shown to be largely attributed to the partial oxidation reaction, and the remarkable CO2 conversion was solely attributed to the reverse water gas shift reaction.