Non-Thermal Plasma Pyrolysis of Fuel Oil in the Liquid Phase

A pulsed plasma pyrolysis reactor with an efficient control system was designed for fuel oil processing. Non-thermal plasma pyrolysis was carried out in the liquid phase at low temperatures (not higher than 100 ?) in a 300 cm(3) reactor without additional reagents or catalysts. The main process parameters and characteristics of non-thermal plasma fuel oil products were investigated within the DC source voltage range of 300-700 V. An increase in the energy of pulsed discharges led to an increase in the productivity of the plasma pyrolysis process and the yield of hydrogen but reduced the yield of acetylene and ethylene. The resulting gas consisted predominantly of hydrogen (46.5-50.0 mol%), acetylene (28.8-34.3 mol%), ethylene (7.6-8.6 mol%), methane (4.2-6.2 mol%), and C3-C5 hydrocarbons. The solid-phase products were in the form of disordered graphite and multilayer nanotubes.