Development of liquid fuel reformer using low energy pulse (LEP) discharge at room temperature

Steam reforming of ethanol was studied at room temperature and 1 atm using LEP discharge. H₂ and other compounds (CO, CH₄, CO₂, C₂H₄, and C₂H₆) were produced, and the formation rates were increased in proportion to the increase of the gap distance and input power. Compared to the former conventional reformer, the results were equivalent to the rates of gas phase reactor. At the decomposition reaction of ethanol 100%, small amount of carbon deposition were gradually formed, and it caused destabilization to stop the discharge. The discharge could not be kept stable for a long time. On the other hand, when the reaction was handled in the case of steam reforming (ethanol concentration 0-100), the discharge could be stabilized for a long time and could be continued in steam reforming without stopping the reaction. Larger ethanol concentration produced more H₂ and higher ethanol concentration field, C₂ selectivity was rather high (∼ 30%), compared to that of lower ethanol concentration field. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AIChE Annual Meeting (Austin, TX 11/7-12/2004).