Catalytic Nonthermal Plasma Reactor for Dry Reforming of Methane

Co-processing of two greenhouse gases, methane and carbon dioxide, was carried out in a dielectric barrier plasma reactor. The influence of feed gas proportion on the performance of the plasma reactor was investigated, especially with an objective to increase the conversion of the reactants and selectivity to syngas. To understand the influence of the catalyst on dry reforming, 10-30% NiO/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by a single-step combustion synthesis and various physicochemical techniques confirmed the formation of nanosized Ni particles. A total of 10% of the discharge volume was packed with Ni/Al2O3 catalysts in a packed-bed configuration. An interesting observation is the increased syngas selectivity on the addition of catalyst to plasma, and among the catalysts tested, 20% Ni showed a H-2/CO ratio of 2.25 against 1.2 with a plasma reactor alone.