Selective oxidation of methane to methanol by NTP plasma: The effect of power and oxygen on conversion and selectivity

Abstract

In the present work, the effect of plasma power and oxygen flow rate on methane conversion and methanol selectivity in a DBD reactor. The results indicate that increasing power at constant gas flow rate leads to enhancing methane conversion relatively linearly, while methanol selectivity is improved initially and then declines. Moreover, increasing oxygen flow rate from 40 sccm to 75 sccm at a constant methane flow rate of 100 sccm leads to rise in methane conversion and methanol selectivity. The results show that formation of copper oxide on electrode surface can be very effective in achieving high methanol yields.