Isotope labelling to study molecular fragmentation during the dielectric barrier discharge wet reforming of methane

Isotope labelling is used to study the wet plasma reforming of methane in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor using D2O and CH4 as reactants. Besides the formation of CO and hydrogen as main products, different partitions of H and D atoms are found in the hydrogen (i.e., Hz, HD, D-2), methane (i.e., CH4, CH3D and CH2D2) and water (D2O, DHO) molecules detected by mass spectrometry as outlet gases of the plasma process. The effect of operating parameters such as applied current, residence time and the addition of oxygen to the reaction mixture is correlated with the H/D distribution in these molecules, the overall reaction yield and the energetic efficiency of the process. The results prove the plasma formation of intermediate excited species that rendering water and methane instead of CO and hydrogen greatly contribute to decrease the overall energy efficiency of the reforming process. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.