Pathway Study on Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Conversion of Hexane

A plasma reactor based on dielectric barrier discharge has been developed for oxidative cracking of hexane to yield olefins at atmospheric pressure. Dissociation of hexane in the presence of oxygen with nonequilibrium plasma state represents complex chemistry, and both conversion and product selectivities differ significantly from the thermodynamic equilibrium state. In order to understand plasma chemistry initiated by electron impact processes, the Boltzmann equation is solved to determine the average electron energy and energy fractions in collision processes. Activation of oxygen in the plasma brings a new route with electron impact dissociation yielding atomic oxygen radicals and initiates oxidative cracking of hexane. Changes in certain features of the dissociation pattern of hexane to yield olefin products with varying parameters such as temperature, oxygen addition, and helium concentration are discussed