Journal of Geosciences, Earth and Planetary Systems
Modelling of Methane Conversion Under Microwave Plasma Conditions
Abstract
Tamas Kovacs
Methane conversion in an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma reactor has been numerically modelled in an argon atmosphere. This study introduces a highly refined approach to estimating the coupled spatial-temporal temperature profiles of the plasma core and its exit jet, significantly improving the fidelity of downstream chemical kinetic simulations. Concentration profiles along the reactor’s central axis were simulated using an expanded detailed reaction mechanism. The model predicts a net methane conversion of 98.7%, primarily yielding hydrogen, acetylene, ethylene, and butadiene. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the chemical scheme was systematically reduced to 102 irreversible steps involving 26 species. The reduced model predicts critical species concentrations within 0.1% of the complete mechanism while accelerating computation time by a factor of 61, offering a computationally efficient framework for future multi- dimensional fluid dynamics coupling.
