Experimental Investigation on Multiple-Channel Gliding Arcs Plasma Cracking Kerosene

In this article, multiple-channel gliding arcs (MCGAs) plasma was adopted to crack kerosene into active components. The effects of different channel numbers and carrier gas flow rates on the discharge characteristics and cracking effects of MCGAs plasma were studied. Compared to the traditional single-channel discharge, the multiple-channel discharge is more stable, and the voltage–current waveforms are smoother while the average discharge power is higher. The effective cracking rate increases with a greater carrier gas flow rate and more discharge channels, while it declines with a greater kerosene flow rate. The maximum cracking rate is 12% that is achieved at the conditions of six-channel discharge when the carrier gas flow rate and the kerosene flow rate are 50 L/min and 10 mL/min, respectively. The increase in carrier gas flow rate would make the YSE of cracking gas improved. However, the yield of the cracking gas increases slightly with a greater kerosene flow rate in the process of single-channel and two-channel discharges while there is a larger increase with six-channel discharges. The MCGAs plasma mainly improves the cracking effect through greater discharge power and broader distribution of high-energy particles.