Hydrogen Production via Partial Oxidation Reforming of Methane with Gliding Arc Discharge Plasma

Abstract Hydrogen production from partial oxidation reforming of methane in a gliding arc discharge (GAD) reactor is investigated. The effects of input power, the oxygen‐carbon molar ratio (O/C), and residence time are studied, respectively. Products such as H 2 , CO, CO 2 , and C 2 ‐C 4 hydrocarbons can be detected in the outlet gas. The experimental result shows that the input power of 36.4 W, the relitively low O/C of 0.705 and the 13.8 s residence time in this system will bring the highest H 2 energy yield. Compared to the decomposition of methane, partial oxidation of methane with air can maintain a stable discharge state and no carbon deposition on electrodes is observed during the reaction process. Optical emission spectroscopy (OES) is also employed to characterize this methane‐air plasma. Based on the results of the experiment and OES, a possible mechanism of methane partial oxidation process was proposed, which points out that collisions of high‐energy electrons and excited N 2 species (mainly N 2 (A)) with other species (such as O 2 , CH 4 ) in the plasma region are two main ways for the activation of this reforming system. Hydrogen is generated principally through the H‐abstraction reaction and the H‐coupling reaction.