CO2 conversion, utilisation and valorisation in gliding arc plasma reactors

Abstract

CO2 conversion with renewable power is gaining increasing interest to solve the current energy and environmental issues. Plasma is a very promising technology because it supplies a non-thermal condition for CO2 activation and can easily be connected to the intermittent renewable electricity. Gliding arc (GA) plasma in all types of plasmas has the most potential for practical application of plasma based CO2 conversion because it operates at atmospheric pressure and reaches a high energy efficiency. However, GA technology is not mature yet, the CO2 conversion in the GA plasmas are still too low. So far, the existing GA reactors still need to be developed and improved. The physical and chemical mechanism and the most efficient conversion route of CO2 in GA are still not clear enough. To further improve the GA based CO2 conversion, the state-of-the-art technology is reviewed to know the technology development has been made and limitations need to be overcome. This paper overviews the arc behaviors and GA plasma parameters, and addresses standard definitions and reliable analysis method for evaluating plasma based CO2 conversion. In addition, the GA reactor development, the gas conversion performance of GA, effect of conditional parameters and the reaction mechanism for CO2 conversion in GA plasma were discussed.