CAE-Based Design and Optimization of a Plasma Reactor for Hydrocarbon Processing

C. Soares [1], F. A. Cassini [1], N. Padoin [1],
[1] Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brasil
Published in 2015

Plasma reactors can be applied to the conversion of waste, biomass and fuels to synthesis gas (mixture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide) with efficiencies as higher as 90-95% and low energy demand, depending on the design optimization. In this work, a multi-step approach was applied to the investigation of the main physics involved in a rotating gliding arc (RGA) discharge reactor. COMSOL Multiphysics was applied to the computational simulation of the fluid flow and the electrostatics at the electrode. NASA’s CEA tool was used for the calculation of the chemical composition of the carrier gas. Additionally, a home-made MATLAB® code based on Paschen's law was used to calculate the breakdown voltage at the electrode as a function of the pressure and the gap length.