Experimental development of plasma reforming of CO2 and CH4

Plasma conversion of thermodynamically difficult reactions is achieved by exposing gas mixtures to energetic electrons to initiate a chain of chemical reactions.

Reprocessing CO2 and CH4 instead of emitting well-known green-house gases are one of the main challenges in the new energy economy and such processes can be integrated in energy-conversion systems where CO2 is formed as an addition to carbon capture and alternative to carbon storage.

Further, plasma is formed by electricity and can thus be integrated in renewable energy systems based on sun, water and wind.The research program consists of three linked objectives: (1) Development of an experimental rig arrangement for fundamental plasma conversion studies; (2) Development of laser based diagnostics that are able to capture important species and conditions for plasma reforming; (3) Perform experimental campaigns to investigate experimental conditions and increase understanding of the plasma induce chemical kinetics.This project will be linked to an ongoing ERC starting grant where ultrafast laser diagnostics are developped and applied to stydy properties of plasma and plasma applications.

The current proposal, however, focus on the needs in plasma reforming in particular.

The work hence aim at developing and applying (1) laser scattering methods and laser-induce fluorescence for quantitative measurements of electrons neutral species, and (2) detecting "dark species" through photoframentation laser-induce fluorescence.