R.F. plasma reactions in light hydrocarbons: Effect of the input power on the decomposition of ethane

Abstract

The effect of the input power on the plasma decomposition of ethane in an inductively coupled radiofrequency glow discharge was studied with a static system at a constant initial pressure of 0.5 torr, with specific energy E s up to 2 × 10 6Jg -1. Input power values of 25, 50 and 100 W were used. The gaseous products were analyzed by gas chromatography. The effect of power input change was found to be smaller than the previously studied influence of the initial pressure variation. The yields of C 2H 4 and C 2H 2 slightly increases with increasing W, while the yield of CH 4 shows a greater variation. The yield of C 3H 8 decreases with increasing W and other heavy products do not show appreciable change. The yield of the crosslinked polymethylene formed as solid product slightly increases and its H/C ratio (about 1.5) slightly decreases with increasing W.