Experimental Study of Dielectric-Barrier-Discharge Reactor for Plasma-Assisted-Combustion

A. Eid1, K. Takashima2, and A. Mizuno2

1Electrical Engineering Department, Aswan University, Egypt
2Department of Environmental and Life Science, Toyohashi University of Technology, Japan

Abstract- A cylindrical Dielectric Barrier Discharge (DBD) plasma reactor is analyzed and investigated at normal environmental conditions. The stressed voltage is varied up to 40 kV peak to peak with variable frequency from 60 up to 4 kHz. The reactor is filled with aluminum oxide pellets to decrease the onset voltage, to assist combustion and to reduce the input electrical power. An equivalent configuration is proposed to model the region of alumina pellets inside the reactor and to calculate the corresponding equivalent capacitances of the reactor. A plasma-assisted combustion (PAC) application is studied experimentally with the reactor. The plasma causes an increase in the flame propagation rate, attributed to the production of reactive radicals and fragmentation of fuel molecules in the plasma. The experimental study includes the reactor operation at different fuel-air ratio by controlling the flow rate of propane and oxygen to achieve lean combustion. The effect of plasma on the flame propagation and intensity is evaluated. The capability of plasma to enhance combustion has significant practical implications.

Keywords-DBD, discharge power, micro-discharge, plasma-assisted-combustion



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