Hydrogen production by reforming methane in a corona inducing dielectric barrier discharge and catalyst hybrid reactor

A novel corona inducing dielectric barrier discharge (CIDBD) and catalyst hybrid reactor was developed for reforming methane. This corona inducing technique allows dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) to occur uniformly in a large gap at relatively low applied voltage. Hydrogen production by reforming methane with steam and air was investigated with the hybrid reactor under atmospheric pressure and temperatures below 600°C. The effects of input power, O₂/C molar ratio and preheat temperature on methane conversion and hydrogen selectivity were investigated experimentally. It was found that higher methane conversions were obtained at higher discharge power, and methane conversion increased significantly with input power less than 50 W; the optimized molar ratio of O₂/C was 0.6 to obtain the highest hydrogen selectivity (112%); under the synergy of dielectric barrier discharge and catalyst, methane conversion was close to the thermodynamic equilibrium conversion rate.