Efficient and Clean Coal Gasification by Dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Efficient and clean utilization of coal has garnered considerable interest due to their environmental friendliness and low cost. Non-thermal plasma with advantages of high energetic densities, abundant reactive species (ions, electrons), low energy consumption and fast start-stop, compatible with renewable electricity was first performed for coal gasification upgrading coal-derived products. Herein, the influence of gas atmosphere, plasma characteristics, flow rate of carrier gas and operating parameters such as the current in the electromagnetic coil on coal gasification was systematically investigated coupling a Dielectric barrier discharge reactor (DBD). Amongst, electrical and spectroscopic characteristics was diagnosed by optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and oscilloscope during the gasification process. Synthesis gas was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) indicating mechane was the dominated products, while syngas was the mixture of carbon dioxide, mechane, ethylene, water gas, hexane. The non-thermal plasma gasification treatment is comprehensively evaluated and assessed in terms of the exergetic sustainability, environmental impact factor and exergetic efficiency. Based on the experimental results and numerical experiments, a possible mechanism of coal gasification coupling non-thermal plasma and renewable electricity is proposed and discussed, which can overcome the volatility of renewable energy and realize the high-value and clean utilization of low-grade renewable energy and coal.