Full cycle, self-consistent, two-dimensional analysis of a packed bed DBD reactor for plasma-assisted splitting: spatiotemporal inhomogeneous, glow to streamer to surface discharge transitions

Abstract

We investigate the full-cycle operation of a coaxial Packed Bed Dielectric Barrier Discharge (PB-DBD) reactor operating in pure . The reactor is packed with high permittivity dielectric rods and is analyzed with a two-dimensional (2D) self-consistent plasma model. We show that the PB-DBD operation is governed by both glow and volume/surface streamer discharges, forming alternatively and non-uniformly inside the gas volume. The presence and surface charging of the dielectric rods and dielectric layer is crucial for the initiation, propagation, annihilation and afterglow of these microdischarges. Our calculations show maximum electron and densities in the order 1020 m−3, an average discharge power of 353.42 W m−1 in the first cycle, microdischarge peak currents in the order of 50–400 A m−1, total half-cycle plasma charge of around 6 µC m−1, which compare well with experimental findings. Dominant negative ions are found to be . CO molecules and O atoms are mainly formed during the MDs development and the streamer-surface ionization waves. Molecular oxygen () is preferentially formed during the glow, current-decaying and afterglow phase of each microdischarge. The spatially average reduced electric field inside the reactor lies in the 20–100 Td range. Each MD, presents distinct non-uniform and non-repeatable glow and volume/streamer discharges owed to the non-uniform surface charging processes which dictate the complex spatial distribution of produced neutral (and ion) species. These detailed results shed light on crucial, largely non-uniform plasma spatiotemporal characteristics that can help design efficient PB-DBD reactors for splitting and beyond, while emphasizing the important insights obtained by 2D simulations which can not be captured with 0D-global or 1D models.