Energy Utilization and Kinetic Characteristics Due to Plasma-Catalytic Synergy Effect with Reactant Structurally Bond Strength and Inductive Effect

Abstract

The energy utilization and kinetic characteristics in pulsed bipolar plasma catalysis of organic reactants were investigated. A kinetic theoretical formula was established for depicting the plasma dissociation and synergistic catalysis. The synergy factors of C5 − C10 n-alkanes were independent of the number of secondary hydrogens, but for (CH3)m-benzenes (m = 0 − 3), as the number of methyl groups increased, the synergy factors slightly increased. The rate of increase in energy utilization due to the synergy effect was inversely proportional to the reactivity of reactants. Some energy from plasma discharge was wasted at low conversion until the catalytic activity began to play a role. The energy utilization increased considerably once the catalytic effect was activated. However, when the reactant was close to its complete oxidation, the plasma dissociation and catalysis reactions competed with each other, leading to wastage of some of the energy. These phenomena were more remarkable for the alkanes than for the aromatics.