Electron Kinetics in He/CH4/CO2 Mixtures Used for Methane Conversion

In this work the electron kinetics in He/CH4/CO2 mixtures used for CH4 conversion is studied, including the contribution of H-2 and CO formed in the discharge, as an initial step to model the reforming of natural gas for syngas production in a dielectric barrier discharge. The electron Boltzmann equation for a swarm in the hydrodynamic regime is solved in mixtures of He/CH4/CO2/CO/H-2. The method used takes into account nonconservative terms and the full angular dependency of the electron velocity distribution function (evdf). The role of He and the effect of the change in composition by conversion of reagents into products in the evdf, transport parameters, reaction rates, and power losses are discussed and quantified.