Microsecond Pulsed Spark Discharge Plasma Treatment on Heavy Oil Model Compounds for Hydrogen Production

It is a novel technology to apply plasma for converting heavy oil into valuable chemical products¹. The spark discharge, in which the gas temperature is between arc discharge and dielectric barrier discharge, has a potential for efficient hydrogen production due to its high conversion rate, high conversion efficiency and low requirements². In this study, we used a needle-plate reactor which was powered by microsecond pulsed spark discharge, and model compounds dripped from a flexible pipe tied to the needle. N-decane, 1-methylnaphthalene, FCC LCO considered as model compounds of heavy oil cracking process were developed in the absence of catalyst and we evaluated the effect of gas species, pulse frequencies, feed volume on the production rate of the hydrogen. By increasing pulse frequencies, the production rate of the hydrogen was increased in all atmospheres. The mainly gaseous products were hydrogen, acetylene, ethylene and methane. $\mathrm{C}_{2},\ \mathrm{H}_{\alpha},\ H_{\beta}$ were found in the OES, which confirmed that the model compounds were cracked into hydrogen and light hydrocarbon fractions. Compared with methane and hydrogen atmospheres, applied power can be decreased efficaciously by adding argon to methane and hydrogen atmospheres. The mixing ratio of hydrogen and argon directly affected applied power and energy consumption. Hydrogen production rate can be maximized by adjusting hydrogen ratio into 25%, and in the meanwhile, energy consumption for hydrogen production was the lowest. It has a broad prospect applying spark plasma to produce hydrogen from heavy oil.