Ethanol partial oxidative reforming in gliding arc discharge plasma: A better understanding by a kinetic model study

Ethanol plasma partial oxidative reforming process was investigated through experiments and modeling in a gliding arc discharge (GAD) plasma reactor. The effect of oxygen to ethanol (O-2/EtOH) molar ratio, flux and input power were evaluated according to yields of main products. The highest yields of hydrogen and carbon monoxide are 38.6% and 55.4%, respectively. The excited-state species including C-2(A(3)Pi(g)-X-3 Pi(u)), the C-2 Swan band and the second positive system (SPS) of nitrogen were detected by optical emission spectroscopy (OES). A zero-dimension (0-D) model of ethanol plasma partial oxidative reforming containing 457 reactions was established for describing the pathways of reforming processes and calculated by Chemkin-PRO. The detailed pathways of ethanol dissociation and production of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, methane and carbon dioxide were sorted according to the calculation result of Chemkin-PRO. The frame mechanism of ethanol plasma partial oxidative reforming showed the main pathways in the reforming processes.