Nanosecond repetitively pulsed plasmas with MHz bursts for CO2 dissociation

Abstract

A novel pulsed power source capable of nanosecond pulses with burst frequencies up to 1 MHz is employed to create atmospheric pressure pulsed plasma in pure CO2 gas. The short bursts contain up to four nanosecond pulses. The CO2 conversion and corresponding energy efficiency are measured ex-situ with Fourier-transform infrared absorption spectroscopy. Trends in the absorption line profile of in-situ quantum cascade laser infrared absorption spectroscopy indicate an elevated vibrational temperature of CO2 with an increasing number of pulses per burst. The key result of this paper is that the dissociation energy efficiency is higher when operating the plasma in burst mode. Furthermore, a larger number of pulses in a burst is associated with a further increase of the dissociation efficiency. The highest efficiency measured is (17.7±0.3) % for single pulses spaced 2 ms apart, and (20.0±0.3) % for bursts of three pulses, with an in-burst frequency of 1 MHz and bursts spaced 4 ms apart.