Effect of excess oxygen in plasma reforming of diesel fuel

This study investigated the plasma reforming process for diesel focusing on the relative ratio of oxygen to fuel. Excess O2 in the partial oxidation process is known to increase the combustion portion, resulting in a decreased yield of H2 and CO. However, in this parametric investigation, there was no apparent decrease in the H2 and CO selectivity. Adding O2 did not increase the portion of combustion in the overall reaction. Rather, an excess O2 supply from partial oxidation stoichiometry resulted in an increase in CO2 selectivity without a reduction in CO selectivity. Heavy hydrocarbon species were identified as a source of CO2 in excess O2 conditions due to preferential oxidative cracking. The additional oxidation of C1–C4 species by excess O2 provided a minor contribution to CO2. Excess O2 affects soot generation characteristics by suppressing the agglomeration of soot particles, resulting in smaller particle generation. However, the oxidation of soot particles does not provide a major contribution to increasing the CO2 selectivity. The results show that in a real reforming process, controlling the O2 supply does not have a strong effect on the process selectivity of hydrogen.