Liquid phase fuel reforming at room temperature using non-thermal plasma

Introduction Hydrocarbon fuel reforming is a very important technology for a variety of applications. For example in cracking process, it is necessary to get various useful hydrocarbon gases and oils. Hydrogen manufacturing from hydrocarbon fuels is also important and could be used for many applications. These applications introduced the fuel cells used in stationary electric power production and in vehicular propulsion, such as refueling stations for hydrogen-powered vehicles. Hydrogen manufacturing is also needed for many industrial applications. Many catalytic methods were investigated for fuel reforming to get the gas phase hydrocarbons and H2. However, almost catalysts are composed by valuable metals and materials. Then, catalytic methods require high temperature, around 300°C to 800°C to get the activation for reforming. Recently, a novel technology of plasma and catalytic processes were studied by many researchers for hydrocarbon reforming. In this study, a new type of plasma reactor was investigated for fuel reforming at room temperature. Positive square pulsed high voltage generates strong plasma in the oils. We expected that liquid oil change to gas and solid.