Performance test and operating condition optimization of parallel plate plasma reactor for carbon dioxide decomposition

A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor for carbon dioxide (CO₂) decomposition was developed to address the current phenomena of CO₂ emissions exceeding 400 ppm in the atmosphere. As is widely known, CO₂ is one of the main causes of global warming and climate change. In this research, a parallel plate plasma reactor was designed by modifying the DBD reactor configured with two parallel electrodes. The casing of the reactor was modified using an acrylic plate that acts as a shell for the optimal contact between the CO₂ gas and the electrodes. The DBD reactor uses a 220 VAC line power (PLN), 50 - 60 Hz frequency. The performance of the DBD reactor was tested and optimized by varying the regulator output (AC) voltage and the CO₂ feed flow rate to obtain the optimal operating conditions from the parallel plate plasma reactor for decomposition of CO₂. The optimal process performance for the 7-gram (ozone production equivalent) plasma reactor was achieved at a discharge power of 82 Watts and a feed flow rate of 1.2 L.min^-1 with CO₂ conversion of 4.413% and energy efficiency of 2.093 × 10^-3 mol.J^-1. The optimal process performance for the 10-gram (ozone production equivalent) plasma reactor was achieved at a discharge power of 74 Watta and a feed flow rate of 1.2 L.min^-1 with CO₂ conversion of 3.949% and energy efficiency of 2.074 × 10^-3 mol.J^-1.