Plasma catalysis over lanthanum substituted perovskites

Plasma Oxidation of H2S over Non-stoichiometric LaxMnO3 Perovskite Catalysts in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor

In this work, plasma-catalytic removal of H2S over LaxMnO3 (x = 0.90, 0.95, 1, 1.05 and 1.10) has been studied in a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor. The non-stoichiometric effect of the LaxMnO3 catalysts on the removal of H2S and sulfur balance in the plasma-catalytic process has been investigated as a function of specific energy density (SED). The integration of the plasma with the LaxMnO3 catalysts significantly enhanced the reaction performance compared to the process using plasma alone. The highest H2S removal of 96.4% and sulfur balance of 90.5% were achieved over the La0.90MnO3 catalyst, while the major products included SO2 and SO3. The missing sulfur could be ascribed to the sulfur deposited on the catalyst surfaces. The non-stoichiometric LaxMnO3 catalyst exhibited larger specific surface areas and smaller crystallite sizes compared to the LaMnO3 catalyst. The non-stoichiometric effect changed their redox properties as the decreased La/Mn ratio favored the transformation of Mn3+ to Mn4+, which contributed to the generation of oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surfaces. The XPS and H2-TPR results confirmed that the Mn-rich catalysts showed the higher relative concentration of surface adsorbed oxygen (Oads) and lower reduction temperature compared to LaMnO3 catalyst. The reaction performance of the plasma-catalytic oxidation of H2S is closely related to the relative concentration of Oads formed on the catalyst surfaces and the reducibility of the catalysts.

Evaluation of different dielectric barrier discharge plasma configurations as an alternative technology for green C1 chemistry in the carbon dioxide reforming of methane and the direct decomposition of methanol

Carbon dioxide reforming of methane and direct decomposition of methanol have been investigated using dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) at atmospheric pressure and reduced working temperatures. Two different plasma reactor configurations are compared and special attention is paid to the influence of the surface roughness of the electrodes on the conversion yields in the first plasma device. The influence of different filling gap dielectric materials (i.e., Al(2)O(3) or BaTiO(3)) in the second packed configuration has been also evaluated. Depending on the experimental conditions of applied voltage, residence time of reactants, feed ratios, or reactor configuration, different conversion yields are achieved ranging from 20 to 80% in the case of methane and 7-45% for the carbon dioxide. The direct decomposition of methanol reaches 60-100% under similar experimental conditions. Interestingly, the selectivity toward the production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide is kept almost constant under all the experimental conditions, and the formation of longer hydrocarbon chains or coke as a byproduct is not detected. The maximum efficiency yields are observed for the packed-bed reactor configuration containing alumina for both reaction processes (approximately 1 mol H(2) per kilowatt hour for dry reforming of methane and approximately 4.5 mol H(2) per kilowatt hour for direct decomposition of methanol).