Pulsed Discharges in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Abstract

Summary form only given. The chemical reaction schemes in supercritical fluids have been accomplished in various ways for its industrial applications. On the other hand, it is well known that electric discharge plasmas have higher chemical reactivity as well as benign properties. In recent years, several studies on discharge plasmas in supercritical carbon dioxide have been carried out. It is very interesting work from both viewpoints of the basic phenomena and the industrial applications because supercritical fluids have unique characteristics that combine with discharge plasmas having higher chemical reactivity. The technology of plasma production in supercritical fluid would play an important role for the enhancement of chemical reactions those are benign to environment, therefore the study on the phenomena of electric discharge in supercritical fluids using pulsed power is paramount work. Generation of pulsed discharge plasma has been carried out at 0.1-15 MPa using spherical electrodes with semi-uniform electric field. The experimental results revealed that the breakdown voltages depend not only on temperature but also on density of carbon dioxide. Further results on chemical reactions in supercritical carbon dioxide (40 C, 15 MPa) using pulse discharges have been reported also.