Plasma reforming of aliphatic hydrocarbons with CO/sub 2/

CO/sub 2/ reforming of methane, propane, and neopentane was investigated with a ferroelectric packed-bed reactor (FPR) in N/sub 2/ at temperatures ranging from 298 K to 433 K. The reaction behavior of the hydrocarbons was greatly affected by their chemical structures and reaction temperature. At ambient temperature, hydrocarbon conversion decreased in the following order: neopentane/spl Gt/propane>methane. With an increase in reaction temperature, hydrocarbon reactivity was enhanced with only a slight difference in the conversions of the above hydrocarbons. CO/sub 2/ deoxygenation was a clean reaction irrespective of reaction temperature, but CO was formed not only from CO/sub 2/ but also from hydrocarbons. No chemical interaction between CO/sub 2/ and the hydrocarbons in nonthermal plasma was observed. Temperature effect on the H/sub 2/ yield depended on the hydrocarbon structure. Higher H/sub 2/ yields were obtained for neopentane and propane than for methane. Product composition and carbon balance were also affected by the hydrocarbon structure, relative concentrations of hydrocarbons to CO/sub 2/, and temperature.     

Steam reforming of aliphatic hydrocarbons with nonthermal plasma

Steam reforming of aliphatic hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, and neopentane was investigated with two types of barrier discharge plasma reactors. With a ferroelectric packed-bed reactor ( FPR) in N/sub 2/, almost the same conversions were obtained for ethane, propane, and neopentane, but methane was less reactive than these hydrocarbons. Hydrogen gas yield decreased in the order: methane/spl ap/ethane>propane>neopentane. The molar ratio of H/sub 2/ to CO {[H/sub 2/]/[CO]} exceeded 3.5 for all the hydrocarbons. [H/sub 2/]/[CO] did not change in the range of H/sub 2/O content from 0.5% to 2.5%. At the volumetric ratio of H/sub 2/O to Hydrocarbon=2.0, carbon balances were poor for ethane, propane, and neopentane, but almost all of the carbon atoms in the reacted methane were recovered as CO and CO/sub 2/. The mole fractions of CO and CO/sub 2/ depended on the chemical structures of the substrate hydrocarbons. It is considered that the water-gas-shift reaction proceeds backward for the reaction systems of the hydrocarbons with higher hydrogen atom densities per molecule. FPR maintained the same performance for 10 h in the steam reforming of methane. The efficiency of a silent discharge plasma reactor was much lower than that of FPR.     

High-power/high-brightness diode-pumped 1.9-/spl mu/m thulium and resonantly pumped 2.1-/spl mu/m holmium lasers

We report high power (>36 W) with beam propagation factor M/sup 2//spl sim/2 in a diode end-pumped Tm:LiYF/sub 4/ (Tm:YLF) laser generating output near the 1.91-/spl mu/m region. Using the 1.91-/spl mu/m emission and high brightness achieved with the Tm:YLF laser we resonantly end-pump the Holmium /sup 5/I/sub 7/ manifold in Ho:YAG and demonstrate /spl sim/19 W of continuous-wave (CW) output. The diode-to-Holmium optical to-optical conversion efficiency achieved is /spl sim/18%. Using a CW pumped and repetitively Q-switched configuration, the Tm:YLF pumped Ho:YAG laser achieves >16 W of output power with an M/sup 2//spl sim/1.48 at 15 kHz. A Q-switched frequency range of 9 to >50 kHz is also achieved.     

Power frequency dependence of space charge behavior and partial discharge characteristics in SF/sub 6/ gas

The partial discharge (PD) and breakdown (BD) characteristics in SF/sub 6/ gas under commercial and higher frequency (/spl sim/600 Hz) ac voltage applications were investigated using high-speed electrical and optical measuring techniques with phase gate control method. Experimental results revealed that 400 Hz BD voltage at a certain gas pressure range was higher than that for 60 Hz and PD characteristics especially at the positive PD inception phase were much influenced by the applied power frequency. From these results, we clarified the dependence of space charge behavior on the applied power frequency and discussed the physical mechanism of PD and BD in SF/sub 6/ gas with consideration of the space charge behavior generated by PD in the previous half cycle of ac voltage.     

Effects of Temperature, Voltage Properties, and Initial Gas Composition on the Plasma Reforming of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons With $hbox{CO}_{{bf 2}}$

CO₂ reforming of methane, propane, and neopentane was investigated with a ferroelectric packed-bed and silent discharge plasma reactors in N₂ at temperature from 303 to 433 K. The conversions of the substrate hydrocarbons and CO₂, and the yields of H₂ and CO were expressed as functions of reactor energy density irrespective of voltage waveform. The positive temperature effect on the hydrocarbon conversions and the product yields can be ascribed to the promotion of secondary decomposition of the hydrocarbons induced by radicals formed in situ because reactor power consumption was not affected by reaction temperature at the same frequencies and peak-to-peak voltages. At 303 K, the reactivity of the hydrocarbon decreased in the following order: neopentane > propane > methane. At 433 K, propane and neopentane showed the same reactivities. The molar ratio of H₂ to CO was affected by hydrocarbon structure and the initial concentration ratio of CO₂ to the carbon atom in hydrocarbon, but not by reaction temperature. Better carbon balances were obtained for all the hydrocarbons at 433 K than at 303 K, suggesting higher reaction efficiencies at 433 K. Carbon balance was also affected by initial gas composition, and the carbon atoms in reacted neopentane were quantitatively recovered as CO, CO₂ and lighter hydrocarbons at 10 of [CO₂]/[neopentane].     

Hydrogen generation from water, methane, and methanol with nonthermal plasma

Hydrogen generation from water, methane, and methanol was investigated with different types of nonthermal plasma reactors under different conditions. With a ferroelectric packed-bed reactor in N/sub 2/, hydrogen gas yield decreased in the order: methanol > methane > water. A similar trend was observed with a silent discharge plasma reactor, but H/sub 2/ yields were much lower with the latter reactor. At fixed specific energy densities, higher H/sub 2/ yields were obtained at higher gas flow rates in the reactions of the above substrates. The initial water concentration was optimized at ca. 2.0% to obtain the highest rate for H/sub 2/ formation. Under the same conditions, H/sub 2/ yield decreased in the order: Ar>N/sub 2/>air/spl ap/O/sub 2/. The ferroelectric packed-bed reactor could be operated continuously for 10 h without any decrease in its performance in the H/sub 2/ generation from water.     

Electrical insulation characteristics of cold dielectric high temperature superconducting cable

For the optimization of electrical insulation design for high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable, evaluation of electrical insulation characteristics especially for butt gap of LN/sub 2/ impregnated cold dielectric (CD) which consists of the wrapped tape insulation impregnated with LN/sub 2/ plays an important role. This paper presents partial discharge (PD) inception and breakdown characteristics in LN/sub 2/ impregnated butt gap model which modeled a weak point of the wrapped tape insulation impregnated with LN/sub 2/ and cable model with short length with polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP/sup /spl reg//), Nomex/sup /spl reg// paper and cellulose paper. PD current pulse was found to have a steep rise time of /spl sim/ ns and amplitude of /spl sim/ tens /spl mu/A at PD inception voltage region. Little dependency of breakdown stress on the insulating material is found. PD inception stress is almost independent of insulation thickness of 1 to 3 mm. The requirement insulation thickness for 66 kV class HTS cable is estimated to be /spl sim/ 5 mm under PD-free condition from viewpoint of long-term reliability.     

Atmospheric pressure of nitrogen plasmas in a ferroelectric packed-bed barrier discharge reactor. Part II. Spectroscopic measurements of excited nitrogen molecule density and its vibrational temperature

For pt.I see ibid.(vol.11 no.3 p.481-90, 2004). In order to validate a nonthermal plasma model using nitrogen in a ferroelectric packed-bed reactor, the number density of the excited nitrogen molecules has been investigated by spectroscopic measurements. Experiments were conducted at applied voltages from 0 to 20 kV, 60 Hz and gas flow rates from 1 to 5 L/min in pure nitrogen gas. The results show that the number density for excited N/sub 2/ molecules increases with increasing applied voltage and dielectric constant and agrees qualitatively with the numerical modeling results at lower applied voltage. The vibrational temperature of the C/sup 3//spl Pi//sub u/ (v') state of N/sub 2/ has been calculated from the light intensity emitted by the 2nd positive band. The vibrational temperature decreases with increasing gas flow rate and no significant effects of the applied voltage and dielectric constant were observed.     

Control of charge on insulating glass in vacuum by plasma processing

In order to control the charging of insulating glass used in HV vacuum equipment, the effect of H/sub 2/ plasma processing on the glass surface was studied. The electron-beam irradiation method was used to verify the effectiveness of the charging control. Borosilicate glass plates were used as test samples. When the glass was exposed to H/sub 2/ plasma produced by ac (60 Hz) voltage application, the surface resistivity of the glass was decreased, varying with H/sub 2/ plasma processing time. By exposure to H/sub 2/ plasma for 20 min, the surface resistivity was reduced from /spl sim/10/sup 17/ to /spl sim/10/sup 12/ /spl Omega/. Due to the reduction of the surface resistivity, charging of the glass can be controlled to a level below that which could cause surface flashover.     

Er-doped AlGaAs native oxides: photoluminescence characterization and process optimization

We present 300 K photoluminescence (PL) characterization data for wet thermal native oxides of Al/sub 0.58/Ga/sub 0.42/As films grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition and doped with Er via multiple high-energy ion implants (for 0.0675, 0.135, and 0.27 atomic percent (at.%) peak Er concentrations), and Al/sub 0.5/Ga/sub 0.5/As and Al/sub 0.8/In/sub 0.2/As films doped with Er (0.03-0.26 at.%) during molecular beam epitaxy crystal growth. Broad spectra with a /spl sim/50-nm full-width at half-maximum and a PL peak at 1.534 /spl mu/m are observed, characteristic of Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/:Er films. The dependencies of PL intensity, spectra, and lifetime on annealing temperature (675/spl deg/C-900/spl deg/C), time (2-60 min) and As overpressure (0-0.82 atm) are studied to optimize the annealing process, with As considered as a possible quenching mechanism. Wet and dry-oxidized films are compared to explore the role of hydroxyl (OH) groups identified by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. FTIR experiments employing heavy water (D/sub 2/O) suggest that OH groups in wet oxidized AlGaAs come mainly from post-oxidation adsorption of atmospheric moisture. AlGaAs:Er films wet oxidized with 0.1% O/sub 2/ added to the N/sub 2/ carrier gas show a fourfold PL intensity increase, doubled PL lifetime to /spl tau//spl sim/5.0 ms (0.27 at.% implanted sample), and the lowest degree of concentration quenching.     

大气压空气中同轴介质阻挡放电微放电特性

为了更好的利用和研究介质阻挡放电技术,探讨了研究较少的同轴介质阻挡等离子体反应器的放电特性。因该类反应器2个介质阻挡层结构不一致,导致微放电行为在高频高压电源的正弦波电压的正、负半周内特点不同。研究从其放电的等效电路模型,流注放电击穿机理,以及在大气压空气中的放电实验等方面进行。结果表明,大气压下放电间隙8mm反应器时,放电电流波形在外加电源电压的正负半周期内不对称;分别呈现出明显的“似辉光放电”和“丝状放电”特点,单个微放电电流脉冲宽度约50ns,与外加电源电压极性和频率无关。     

$hbox{CO}_{bf 2}$ Reforming of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons With Silent Discharge Plasma

CO₂ reforming of methane ( CH₄) and propane (C₃H₈) was performed with a silent discharge reactor (SDR). The reactor performance was evaluated in terms of energy efficiencies for the conversion of the substrates and formation of H₂ and CO. The reactivity of C₃H₈ was 2- to 3-fold higher than that of CH₄, and both of CH₄ and C₃H₈ were reformed in the order of 10¹⁶ molecules/J at 298 K. The energy efficiencies for the conversion of these substrates increased with their initial concentrations, but decreased with an increase in reactor energy density. On the other hand, the energy efficiencies for the conversion of CO₂, which were not affected by the hydrocarbon types, were lower than those for the hydrocarbon substrates. A positive temperature effect was observed in the conversion of the hydrocarbon substrates only at low reactor energy densities from 298 to 433 K.     

Pulsed HV vacuum breakdown of polished, powder coated, and e-beam treated large area stainless steel electrodes with 0.5 to 7 mm gaps

An investigation of the HV vacuum breakdown between polished, powder coated, and e-beam treated 304L and 316L stainless steel electrodes is described. Tests were performed with 160 ns, 1-cos(/spl omega/t), and 260 ns flat-top voltage pulses of up to 500 kV. The high voltage hold-off for the 160 ns pulse was /spl sim/130 kV/mm for 2 mm gaps for 80-mm diameter polished stainless steel electrodes, and 15% lower for 120-mm polished and e-beam treated electrodes. The longer 260 ns pulse gave 15% lower hold-off for 80-mm electrodes. These electrodes showed voltage hold-off that scaled as the square root of the gap between 0.5 and 7 mm. This total voltage effect has been interpreted in the past as due to accelerated particles. We analyze our data in terms of this mechanism and show that only nanoparticles of molecular size could be responsible. We also discuss how ions or background gas could affect the breakdown thresholds but existing models do not predict square root dependence. We test how extremely fine powers affect hold-off and show that contaminated surfaces have relatively constant reduced breakdown E-fields that intersect the clean-electrode voltage-dependent breakdown at critical gaps defined by the type and quantity of contamination. The hold-off was /spl sim/55 and 65 kV/mm with copper powder on the cathode and anode for 2 to 6.5 mm gaps, respectively, and /spl sim/95 and 75 kV/mm for talc powder on the cathode and anode for gaps <3.5 and 6.5 mm. Optical diagnostics show no difference in the light emission from clean and contaminated electrode breakdown arcs.     

Performance evaluation of nonthermal plasma reactors for NO oxidation in diesel engine exhaust gas treatment

The discharge plasma-chemical hybrid process for NO/sub x/ removal from the flue gas emissions is an extremely effective and economical approach in comparison with the conventional selective catalytic reduction system. In this paper we bring out a relative comparison of several discharge plasma reactors from the point of NO removal efficiency. The reactors were either energized by AC or by repetitive pulses. Ferroelectric pellets were used to study the effect of pellet assisted discharges on gas cleaning. Diesel engine exhaust, at different loads, is used to approximately simulate the flue gas composition. Investigations were carried out at room temperature with respect to the variation of reaction products against the discharge power. Main emphasis is laid on the oxidation of NO to NO/sub 2/, without reducing NO/sub x/ concentration (i.e., minimum reaction byproducts), with least power consumption. The produced NO/sub 2/ will be totally converted to N/sub 2/ and Na/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ using Na/sub 2/SO/sub 3/. The AC packed-bed reactor and pelletless pulsed corona reactor showed better performance, with minimum reaction products for a given power, when the NO concentration was low (/spl sim/100 ppm). When the engine load exceeds 50% (NO>300 ppm) there was not much decrease in NO reduction and more or less all the reactors performed equally. The total operating cost of the plasma-chemical hybrid system becomes $4010/ton of NO, which is 1/3-1/5 of the conventional selective catalytic process.     

Electron trap generation in high-/spl kappa/ gate stacks by constant voltage stress

Positive bias constant voltage stress combined with charge pumping (CP) measurements were applied to study trap generation phenomena in SiO/sub 2//HfO/sub 2//TiN stacks. Using gate stacks with varying thicknesses of the interfacial SiO/sub 2/ layer (IL) or high-/spl kappa/ layer and analysis for frequency-dependent CP data developed to address trap depth profiling, the authors have determined that the defect generation in the stress voltage range of practical importance occurs primarily within the IL on as-grown "precursor" defects most likely caused by the overlaying HfO/sub 2/ layer. The generated traps can be passivated by a forming gas or nitrogen (N/sub 2/) anneal, whereas a postanneal stress reactivates these defects. The results obtained identify the IL as one of the major targets for reliability improvement of high-/spl kappa/ stacks.     

Improving withstand voltage by roughening the surface of an insulating spacer used in vacuum

This paper describes a simple and reliable method of improving the surface insulation strength of a spacer used in vacuum. The method is to roughen the spacer surface to an average roughness R/sub a/ higher than 1 or 2 /spl mu/m. The material of the spacer examined is SiO/sub 2/, PMMA, PTFE or Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/ and their shape is a right cylinder with 10 mm in height and 54 mm in diameter. The spacer is subjected to a ramped DC voltage and its surface charging is observed by using an electrostatic probe embedded in the cathode. It has been found that R/sub a/ decisively affects the charging, which decreases as R/sub a/ increases. Increasing R/sub a/ larger than about 2 /spl mu/m suppresses the charging until a higher applied voltage is reached, thus improving the insulation property.     

钙基CO2吸收剂循环反应特性的试验与模拟

合成了3种不同质量配比的钙基CO2吸收剂CaO/ Ca12Al14O33,并对CaO/Ca12Al14O33、石灰石、白云石的循环煅烧/碳酸化特性进行试验研究,以考察吸收剂的转化率随循环反应次数的变化规律。试验结果表明,3种吸收剂反应活性均随循环反应次数的增加而降低;在850 ℃煅烧温度下,CaO/Ca12Al14O33(75%/25%)吸收剂在第10次循环后其循环转化率保持在51.7%左右;在900 ℃煅烧温度下,吸收剂活性下降较快,CaO/Ca12Al14O33的反应活性高于石灰石和白云石,且当CaO和Ca12Al14O33的质量比为75%/25%时最优。建立了吸收剂的循环转化率模型以及循环碳酸化过程动力学模型,为反应器的设计提供理论依据。     

Flashover voltage of alumina ceramic contaminated by metal vapor in vacuum interrupters

We investigated the influence of metal vapor contamination of ceramic surfaces on flashover voltage (FOV) in vacuum. First, disk shape alumina (Al/sub 2/O/sub 3/) ceramics with surface resistivity (/spl rho/) of 10/sup 2/-10/sup 15/ /spl Omega/ were produced using deposition phenomena of metal vapor emitted from CuCr contacts. The impulse FOV for the ceramics decreased, as /spl rho/ reduced; FOV, the conditioning effect on FOV, and the scattering of FOV decreased when /spl rho/ was below 10/sup 12/ /spl Omega/. Therefore, the criterion value /spl rho/, which maintains excellent flashover performances of ceramic surface, is 10/sup 12/ /spl Omega/. Second, experimental vacuum interrupters (VIs) were produced to measure breakdown voltage before and after forty short-circuit current switchings with 20-40 kA/sub rms/ and were disassembled to measure the /spl rho/ of their inner ceramic surface. In a VI, which has inside diameters at both ends of the main shield much larger than the contact diameter, /spl rho/ was reduced to 10/sup 4/ /spl Omega/, further decreasing breakdown voltage between terminals.     

V-t characteristics of partial discharge inception in liquid nitrogen/ PPLP/sup /spl reg// composite insulation system for HTS cable

In this paper, we studied partial discharge (PD) inception characteristics and V-t characteristics of PD inception in liquid nitrogen (LN/sub 2/)/polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP/sup /spl reg//) composite insulation system for high temperature superconducting (HTS) cable. Experimental results revealed that the magnitude of initial PD was in the range of 2.0-30 pC irrespective of butt gap condition and the initial PD was generated at the first and third quadrant of voltage phase. PD inception electric field strength (PDIE) without butt gap was 5-10% higher than that with butt gap and thicker butt gap gave larger PDIE drop. Moreover, PDIE with butt gap depended on the butt gap thickness and the number of PPLP/sup /spl reg// layers. The reason is explained by the existing probability of weak points of electrical insulation at butt gap. Finally, lifetime indices n of V-t characteristics at PD inception were obtained as 80-100 irrespective of butt gap condition. These values showed enough flat characteristics of V-t phenomena of electrical insulation.     

Optical investigation of AC preflashover of alumina ceramic in vacuum

Optical phenomena accompanying the preflashover along a planar metal-alumina-metal structure were investigated under stepped AC voltage in vacuum. Two kinds of electrode contacts with and without sputtered gold films were employed. For sputtered alumina, the luminescence became observable at /spl sim/1 kV/sub peak/, and revealed two stages depending on the amplitude of applied voltage. For non-sputtered alumina the optical emission appeared at a much higher voltage and presented irregular and discrete light pulses. The energy band at the metal-alumina interface for the two kinds of electrode contacts is responsible for the relevant optical mechanisms. For non-sputtered contact, the light emission was initiated by field electron emission from the triple junction. While for the sputtered contact, prior to the electron emission, electrons/holes could be injected from electrodes into the surface layer of alumina and electroluminescence phenomena occur due to the radiative electron-hole recombination. Injected electrons form a long-term negative space charge region away from each electrode and hence at a critical applied voltage, the trapped electrons are detrapped resulting in intense light emission. These processes play a significant role in the development of flashover.