Hydrogen Production in Acousto-Plasma Discharge from Direct Water-Hydrocarbon Emulsions

Abstract

In this work, a low-temperature plasma initiated in liquid media between electrodes is shown to be able to decompose hydrogen containing organic molecules resulting in obtaining gaseous products with volume part of hydrogen higher than 90%. As feedstocks, the direct water-hydrogen emulsions obtained by ultrasonic treatment and action of electric field are used. Hydrogen productivity from emulsions is shown to be not less than that from individual substances. The measurement of the amount of the gas mixture formed during the decomposition of organic liquids demonstrates that the output is highly dependent on the discharge current, and also on the volume of the discharge which can vary depending on the distance between the electrodes in the reaction chamber. In current experiments, the discharge current is from 4A to 8A, the discharge voltage depending on the type of liquid is 30-45 V. It has been established that using the acoustoplasmic method allows the use of raw materials of the lowest quality, i.e. there is no need to spend expensive cleaning to remove impurities. A significant advantage is also the absence of toxic and difficult to digestible by-products of this synthesis, as well as the fact that the gas mixture leaves the reactor at a low pressure (0.2-0.3 atm) which facilitates its primary transportation. Hydrogen-containing gas can be used as fuel directly after synthesis, i.e. does not require separation, since in addition to hydrogen contains only impurities of CO 2 and water vapor. A by-product in the production of hydrogen by the acousto-plasma discharge method in the decomposition of organic liquids is carbon formed in the form of agglomerates of nanoparticles of different structures and precipitated during the reaction at the bottom of the reaction chamber. As the results of analyzes and stoichiometric calculations have shown, most of the carbon and oxygen contained in the molecules of the initial liquid are consumed to form these by-products, so that the gaseous mixture formed is significantly enriched in hydrogen. Nanoparticles obtained and their agglomerates can also be used as fillers, dyes, components of composite materials, etc.