Production of hydrogen via conversion of hydrocarbons using a microwave plasma

In this paper, results of hydrogen production from hydrocarbons in an atmospheric pressure microwave plasma are presented. As sources of hydrogen, both methane CH4 and tetrafluoroethane C2H2F4 were tested. A new waveguide-based nozzleless cylinder-type microwave plasma source was used to convert hydrocarbons into hydrogen. The processed gaseous hydrocarbons were introduced into the plasma by four gas ducts which formed a swirl flow in the plasma reactor. The absorbed microwave power was up to 5 kW. The gas flow rate was up to 212 L min−1. The hydrogen mass yield rate and the corresponding energetic hydrogen mass yield were up to 866 g[H2] h−1 and 577 g [H2] kWh−1 of microwave energy absorbed by the plasma, respectively. These parameters are better than our previous results when nitrogen was used as a swirl gas and much better than those typical for other plasma methods of hydrogen production (electron beam, gliding arc, plasmatron).