Effects of Multiple Pulses on Decomposition of Hydrocarbons for Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen production on vehicle is under development by using plasma discharges working in high-pressure condition over 1.5 atm. The original fuel for the system is methane (CH4) or propane (C3H8). For this purpose, mainly dielectric barrier discharge nonthermal plasma system is employed with high-voltage pulse of width 5-30 mu s and maximum amplitude 13 kV. This wide pulse is composed of multiple of 5-mu s pulse. In this system, no production of COx is expected. The decomposition rate of hydrocarbon depends on the applied pulsewidth. The phenomena of multiple pulse effects are discussed with use of multiple pulse decomposition model.