Catalyst behavior of plasma state in methane decomposition to hydrogen and solid carbon

A novel continues plasma reactor with rotating electrodes was designed and constructed to investigate methane decomposition to hydrogen and solid carbon. This new reactor structure causes stable operation. Hydrogen is main part of gaseous products which contain little amounts of C2 hydrocarbons while, carbon is deposited in solid phase. It was shown that plasma has catalyst property because, it causes reaction to happen at much lower temperatures due to generation of enough reactive species for reaction initiation and provides additional adjustable parameters toward selective production of hydrogen. By rotation of high voltage electrode, plasma state approaches non-equilibrium state and therefore its catalytic role becomes apparent which is beneficial in terms of energy efficiency as a major challenge facing methane decomposition. Methane conversion and energy efficiency reached around 60% and 40% respectively.