Hydrogen production in microwave discharge in water solutions of ethanol at atmospheric pressure

Gas chromatography, optical emission spectroscope, high speed video camera were used to study the microwave discharge ignited near the end of the microwave antenna in aqueous solution of ethanol at different ethanol content and different incident microwave power. The pressure above the surface of liquid was close to atmospheric pressure. The main gas products were H-2, CO, C2H2, CH4, C2H4. H-2 (approximate to 60 vol%) and CO (approximate to 30 vol%) are predominated. The composition of the reaction products in a microwave discharge is practically independent of incident power and ethanol content in the solution, but the total flow rate of gas products at the system output increases with an increase in the incident power and the ethanol content in solution. Best obtained characteristics of process of hydrogen production were: flow rate of hydrogen was of 3240 mL/min, concentration of hydrogen in gas mixture on the discharge outlet was of 59 vol%, maximum energy efficiency of hydrogen production was of 324 NL/kWh.

Automated summary

Gas chromatography, optical emission spectroscope, and high-speed video camera were used to study the microwave discharge in aqueous solution of ethanol. The main gas products were H-2, CO, C2H2, CH4, C2H4, with H-2 and CO being predominant. The composition of the reaction products was independent of incident power and ethanol content, but the total flow rate of gas products increased with an increase in power and ethanol content. The best characteristics of hydrogen production were: flow rate of 3240 mL/min, concentration of 59 vol% at the discharge outlet, and maximum energy efficiency of 324 NL/kWh.