title: Production of hydrogen-rich gas from methane by thermal plasma reform.
abstract: This study investigated the reforming characteristics and optimum operating condition of the high-temperature plasma torch (so called plasmatron) for hydrogen-rich gas (syngas) production. At the optimum condition, the composition of produced syngas was 45.4% hydrogen (H2), 6.9% carbon monoxide (CO), 1.5% carbon dioxide (CO2), and 1.1% acetylene (C2H2). The H2/CO ratio was 6.6, hydrogen yield was 78.8%, and the energy conversion rate was 63.6%. To obtain the optimum operating condition, parametric studies were carried out examining the effects of O2/CH4 ratio, steam/CH4 ratio, and Ni catalyst addition in reactor. When the steam/CH4 ratio was 1.23, the production of hydrogen was maximized and the methane conversion rate was 99.7%. The syngas composition was determined to be 50.4% H2, 5.7% CO, 13.8% CO2, and 1.1% C2H2. The H2/CO ratio was 9.7, hydrogen yield was 93.7%, and the energy conversion rate was 78.8%. Hydrogen production with catalyst was effective, compared with no catalyst.
authors.affiliation: BK 21 Team for Hydrogen Production, Department of Environmental Engineering, Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea. ynchun@chosun.ac.kr
authors.forename: Young N
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Chun
authors.forename: Seong C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D002384:Catalysis; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006859:Hydrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D008697:Methane / Q000737:chemistry*; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D013227:Steam; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D013227:Steam; D006859:Hydrogen; D008697:Methane