Chapter 14 - Plasma technology for syngas production

Abstract

Dry reforming of methane (DRM) has attracted a lot of attention as this process utilizes both CO2 and CH4 to produce syngas (a mixture of H2 and CO). Syngas is an essential chemical feedstock to produce a range of platform chemicals and synthetic fuels. However, high temperatures (>700°C) are generally required to activate CH4 and CO2 in the thermal chemical process to achieve reasonable syngas yields and conversions due to the sluggish thermodynamic kinetics of the process. Besides, catalyst sintering and coke deposition at high temperatures lead to the rapid deactivation of reforming catalysts in the thermal process, which further limits the commercialization of this process. Nonthermal plasma (NTP) technology has been regarded as an emerging and promising strategy for DRM to produce syngas under mild conditions. In this chapter, we have reviewed the recent advances in the plasma reforming of CH4 with CO2 for syngas production, including the effects of different processing parameters on the performance of plasma DRM and the coupling of plasma with catalysis for syngas production via DRM. The current challenges and future perspectives in this emerging area have also been discussed.