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Numerical Simulation Study on Plasma Rapid Heater of Methane

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Abstract

In this paper, we present a plasma rapid heater (PRH) designed to uniformly heat methane with electric arc thermal plasma and reduce loss rate. Our model uses a simplified and detailed mechanism to analyze the rapid and intense mixing process between a plasma mainstream and circumferential cold jets of methane in a hydrogen environment. The research focuses on three areas: the plasma mainstream section, the circumferential jet mixing chamber, and the reaction chamber. We investigate the characteristics of the mainstream and explore the impact of the jet momentum ratio on the mixing process and the losses from methane heating. We explain these phenomena using Damkohler numbers to demonstrate the relationship from a time-scale perspective. The findings indicate that an increased momentum ratio improves mixing, reduces temperature and material non-uniformity, and minimizes losses from pyrolysis during methane heating. Additionally, we provide a formula for calculating the penetration depth of the jet. The examination of Damkohler numbers also suggests that the momentum ratio primarily reduces methane losses by extending the reaction time scale. This work offers guidance on extending the usage of plasma heaters and integrating them into other industry processes in the future.

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Data Availability

The datasets used or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 120350015) and Youth Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12105282).

Funding

Youth Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12105282) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 12035015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineer Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Shaopeng Wang, Defu Kong, Xianhui Chen, Cheng Wang & Weidong Xia

  2. Hefei Carbon Art Technology Co., Ltd., Hefei, 230031, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Wang

  3. Xinjiang Junthin Chemical Corporation Ltd., Akesu, 842304, Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China

    Cheng Wang

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  1. Shaopeng Wang
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  2. Defu Kong
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  3. Xianhui Chen
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  4. Cheng Wang
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  5. Weidong Xia
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Contributions

SW: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing—original draft, Writing—review & editing. DK: Partial data processing. XC: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Resources, Supervision, Writing -review & editing. CW: Resources, Supervision. WX: Resources, Supervision, Data curation, Project administration. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xianhui Chen.

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Wang, S., Kong, D., Chen, X. et al. Numerical Simulation Study on Plasma Rapid Heater of Methane. Plasma Chem Plasma Process 44, 95–114 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-023-10433-9

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