Reactions of methane in non-equilibrium plasmas under different process parameter

The methane conversion into C2 hydrocarbons, carbon black, and hydrogen has been studied under non-equilibrium plasma conditions, using dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) and gliding discharges (GD) at low and medium temperatures at atmospheric pressure. It has been found that ethane is the main product of the filamentary DBD action in the mixtures CH4+Ar and the reaction rate depends mainly on the concentration of high-energy components being able to initiate the chemical transformations of methane. Using GD, two processes are observed: the methane conversion into unsaturated hydrocarbons C2 (mainly acetylene) and into carbon black. The energy density of GD and the methane concentration in initial gas mixtures (CH4+H2 and CH4+Ar) are the main parameters influencing the methane conversion rate and the unit energy consumption.