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Critical Considerations in Power Measurements for the Precise Estimation of Energy Costs in Plasma NOx Synthesis

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Abstract

The great advantage of plasma technology in harnessing abundant clean energy for electrifying and decentralizing the chemical industry holds the promise of attaining carbon neutrality. Therefore, recent research efforts have been dedicated to reducing the energy costs of plasma processes to facilitate the commercialization of this technology. However, it has been noted an inconsistency in reporting energy costs across the literature resulted from inaccurate estimation of power consumption within the system, leading to the misevaluation of the process, its underlying mechanism, and the significance of critical factors. This study comprehensively addresses these challenges by discussing and refining methods for estimating power consumption in a plasma system. Insights are drawn from our ongoing research in plasma NOx synthesis, specifically a thorough analysis of the discharge dynamics in a recently developed reactor “high-frequency spark discharge” using a high-speed camera, ICCD camera, and high-performance oscilloscope at various pulse widths of the applied voltage. The investigation revealed the importance of accounting for the post-spark period in the voltage cycle during power estimation, as it demonstrates an influence on NOx synthesis. Furthermore, the study highlighted and addressed critical errors in power measurement and energy cost estimation in the literature. It is found that a significant error, exceeding ± 70%, arises from overlooking signals delay in the setup and improper adjustment of oscilloscope functions, particularly channel impedance, data averaging, bandwidth, and sampling rate. This paper serves as a valuable guide towards establishing standardized measurements toward the precise estimation of energy costs in plasma processes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by JST CREST (grant number: JPMJCR19R3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Environmental Management Research Institute, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, 305-8569, Japan

    Ayman A. Abdelaziz, Yoshiyuki Teramoto & Hyun-Ha Kim

  2. Faculty of Science, Assuit University, Assiut, 71516, Egypt

    Ayman A. Abdelaziz

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, O-Okayama, Tokyo, 152-8550, Japan

    Dae-Yeong Kim & Tomohiro Nozaki

  4. National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Global Zero Emission Research Center, 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, 305-8569, Japan

    Hyun-Ha Kim

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  1. Ayman A. Abdelaziz
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Contributions

Ayman A. Abdelaziz: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing–original draft, Writing – review & editing. Yoshiyuki Teramoto: Investigation, Formal analysis. Dae-Yeong Kim: Investigation, Formal analysis. Tomohiro Nozaki: Formal analysis, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Hyun-Ha Kim: Conceptualization, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing–original draft, Project administration, Funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Ayman A. Abdelaziz or Hyun-Ha Kim.

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Abdelaziz, A.A., Teramoto, Y., Kim, DY. et al. Critical Considerations in Power Measurements for the Precise Estimation of Energy Costs in Plasma NOx Synthesis. Plasma Chem Plasma Process (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11090-024-10472-w

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