Invited Paper EN+PS-WeM1
Electron Driven C₁-chemistry: Direct Conversion of Methane to Synthetic Fuels

Wednesday, October 31, 2012, 8:00 am, Room 15

Currently, industrial material and energy conversion technology platform consists of thermochemical processes including various catalytic reactions. Existing industry scale technology and related science has already been well established; nevertheless, further improvement in energy efficiency and material saving are demanded. Drastic reduction of CO₂ emission is also drawing keen attention with growing concern of energy and environmental issues. Green chemistry is a rapidly growing field of science and technology, and often highlights renewable bioenergy, bioprocesses, solar photocatalysis of water splitting, and CO₂ regeneration as synthetic fuels. Plasma catalysis of hydrocarbon feedstock is also highlighted as an important part of the innovative next generation green technologies that meet the need for energy saving, environment protection, and material preservation [1-4]. Non-thermal plasma uniquely generates reactive species independently of reaction temperature, and these species are used to initiate chemical reactions at unexpectedly lower temperatures than normal thermochemical reactions. Non-thermal plasma thus broadens the operation window of existing chemical conversion processes, and ultimately allows modification of the process parameters to minimize energy and material consumption. We specifically focus on dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) as one of the viable non-thermal plasma sources for practical fuel reforming. In the presentation, room-temperature one-step conversion of methane to synthetic fuels such as methanol, hydrogen, and syngas (H₂+CO) using a microplasma reactor is highlighted. Not only practical background of the project, but also unique characteristics of plasma fuel reforming such as non-equilibrium product distribution is presented [5-7].

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2. The special issues on " Non-thermal Plasma Assisted Fuel Conversion for Green Chemistry ", J Phys D: Appl Phys., 44(23), 2011

3. A Gutsol: Handbook of Combustion, Vol.5 New Technology, Wiley-VCH, 323 (2010)

4. H L Chen et al: Appl. Catal. B: Environmental, 85 (2008) 1.

5. T Nozaki et al: Chemical Engineering Journal, 166 (2011) 288– 293.

6. T Nozaki et al: Energy & Fuels, 22 (2008) 3600–3604.

7. T Nozaki et al: Pure and Applied Chemistry,78(6) (2006) 1147–1162.