Methane conversion using a dielectric barrier discharge reactor at atmospheric pressure for hydrogen production

In the present paper, we carried out a theoretical study of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) filled with pure methane gas. The homogeneous discharge model used in this work includes a plasma chemistry unit, an electrical circuit, and the Boltzmann equation. The model was applied to the case of a sinusoidal voltage at a period frequency of 50 kHz and under a gas pressure of 600 Torr. We investigated the temporal variation of electrical and kinetic discharge parameters such as plasma and dielectric voltages, the discharge current density, electric field, deposited power density, and the species concentration. We also checked the physical model validity by comparing its results with experimental work. According to the results discussed herein, the dielectric capacitance is the parameter that has the greatest effect on the methane conversion and H₂/CH₄ ratio. This work enriches the knowledge for the improvement of DBD for CH₄ conversion and hydrogen production.