Enhanced CO2 decomposition via metallic foamed electrode packed in self-cooling DBD plasma device

A self-cooling dielectric barrier discharge reactor, packed with foamed Cu and Ni mesh and operated at ambient conditions, was used for the composition of CO₂ into CO and O₂. The influences of power, frequency, and other discharge characteristics were investigated in order to have a better understanding of the effect of the packing materials on CO₂ decomposition. It is found that porous foamed Cu and Ni not only played a role as the carrier of energy transformation and electrode distributed in discharge gaps but also promoted the equilibrium shifting toward the product side to yield more CO by consuming some part of O₂ and O radicals generated from the decomposition of CO₂. The maximum CO₂ decomposition rates of 48.6% and 49.2% and the maximum energy efficiency of 9.71% and 10.18% were obtained in the foamed Ni and Cu mesh, respectively.     

Investigation of operating parameters on CO2 splitting by dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Experiments of CO2 splitting by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma were carried out,and the influence of CO2 flow rate,plasma power,discharge voltage,discharge frequency on CO2 conversion and process energy efficiency were investigated.It was shown that the absolute quantity of CO2 decomposed was only proportional to the amount of conductive electrons across the discharge gap,and the electron amount was proportional to the discharge power;the energy efficiency of CO2 conversion was almost a constant at a lower level,which was limited by CO2 inherent discharge character that determined a constant gap electric field strength.This was the main reason why CO2 conversion rate decreased as the CO2 flow rate increase and process energy efficiency was decreased a little as applied frequency increased.Therefore,one can improve the CO2 conversion by less feed flow rate or larger discharge power in DBD plasma,but the energy efficiency is difficult to improve.     

Ni-MOF-74制备及其对CO的吸附性能

通过水热合成法制备了Ni-MOF-74材料,采用全自动表面积吸附仪、PXRD、扫描电子显微镜、同步热分析仪对材料的孔隙结构、晶体形貌和热稳定性进行了表征,并采用静态吸附法测定了CO、N₂、CH₄和CO₂在Ni-MOF-74上的吸附等温线;采用挤压成型方法制备了Ni-MOF-74成型材料,并研究了挤压成型后Ni-MOF-74晶体结构和微孔结构的变化及对CO的吸附性能的影响。结果表明,制得的Ni-MOF-74材料比表面积达1 212.61 m²/g,其孔径主要集中在0.8～1.0 nm之间,对CO的吸附量远高于相同条件下对N₂和CH₄的吸附量,具有良好的热稳定性;Ni-MOF-74对CO的吸附作用力明显高于对N₂、CH₄和CO₂的;挤压成型后Ni-MOF-74的完整晶体数量明显减少,且部分微孔结构遭到破坏,成型后对CO的吸附性能明显下降。     

应用于等离子体排灰气处理的甲烷水汽重整反应的热力学分析

Tokamak装置中的等离子体反应一段时间后,需对产生的排灰气进行净化处理,以回收其中的氘氚。目前拟采用甲烷水汽重整反应将化合态的氘氚转化为单质并回收。本文运用Gibbs自由能最小化方法,对应用于等离子体排灰气处理的水汽重整反应进行热力学分析,考查反应温度、原料比例、反应压力、O₂、CO₂、H₂、CO等因素对反应平衡的影响,确定了适宜的反应条件,即反应温度范围650～700 ℃,压力1×105 Pa,水碳比1.5～2.0。此外,原料气中O₂或CO₂的存在有利于减少积碳的生成量,并获得较高的氢同位素平衡转化率;H₂的存在对重整反应的热力学平衡无明显影响;CO的存在会使积碳量增加,对反应产生不利影响,在进入重整反应器前应将其去除。     

Photon-induced impurity production in TEXTOR

Analysis of the residual neutral gas during plasma discharges in the tokamak TEXTOR shows considerable amounts of neutral CO and CO₂. Details of these observations have suggested that the CO₂ and part of the CO neutral gas is released from the surfaces by photon-stimulated desorption processes. To prove this suggestion additional mass-spectroscopic measurements have been performed in a chamber vacuum-sealed from the TEXTOR vacuum by a MgF₂-window which is transparent for wavelengths above about 110 nm. It has been confirmed that CO₂ and CO molecules together with H₂ are released from the walls of the chamber by the photons penetrating from the TEXTOR plasma through the window. The overall desorption rate has been estimated to be between 10⁻⁴ and 10⁻⁵ molecules/photon and a linear relation between the amount of desorbed molecules and the total radiation from the plasma has been found. The results are discussed in view of the overall impurity release from the walls and limiters of TEXTOR.     

Radiation shielding design of the CFETR polarimeter interferometer and CO2 dispersion interferometer

A three-wave based laser polarimeter/interferometer and a CO₂ laser dispersion interferometer are used to determine the electron and current density profiles on a Chinese fusion engineering test reactor (CFETR). Radiation shielding is designed for the combination of polarimeter/interferometer and CO₂ dispersion interferometer. Furthermore, neutronics models of the two systems are developed based on the engineering-integrated design of CFETR polarimeter/interferometer and CO₂ dispersion interferometer and the major material components of CFETR. The polarimeter/interferometer and CO₂ dispersion interferometer's neutron and photon transport simulations were performed using the Monte Carlo neutral transport code to determine the energy deposition and neutron energy spectrum of the optical mirrors. The energy depositions of the first mirrors on the polarimeter/interferometer are reduced by three orders with the whole shielding. Since the mirrors of CO₂ dispersion interferometer are very close to the diagnostic first wall, shielding space is limited and the CO₂ dispersion interferometer energy deposition is higher than that of the polarimeter/interferometer. The dose rate after shutdown 10⁶ s in the back-drawer structure has been estimated to be 83 μSv h⁻¹ when the radiation shield is filled in the diagnostic shielding modules, which is below the design threshold of 100 μSv h⁻¹. Radiation shielding design plays a key role in successfully applying polarimeter/interferometer and CO₂ dispersive interferometer in CFETR.     

Measurement of radial temperature distributions of the blown CO_2 arcs under different conditions

In this paper, the radial temperature distributions of the blown CO_2 arcs in a model gas circuit breaker were investigated by optical emission spectroscopy methods. The CO_2 flows with different flow rates(50, 100 and 150 1 min~(-1)) were created to axially blow the arcs burning in a polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) nozzle. Discharges with different arc currents(200 and 400A) were conducted in the experiment. The absolute intensity method was applied for a carbon ionic line of 657.8 nm to obtain the radial temperature profiles of the arc columns at a cross-section 1 mm above the nozzle. The calibration for the intensity of the CⅡ 657.8 nm line was achieved by the Fowler–Milne method with the help of an oxygen atomic line of 777.2 nm.The highest temperature obtained in the arc center was up to 19 900 K when the arc current was 400 A and the CO_2 flow rate was 50 1 min~(-1), while the lowest temperature in the arc center was about 15 900 K when the arc current was 200 A and the CO_2 flow rate was 150 1min~(-1). The results indicate that as the arc current increases, the temperature in the arc center would also increase apparently, and a larger gas flow rate would lead to a lower central temperature in general. It can also be found that the influence of the CO_2 flow rate on the arc temperature was much less than that of the arc current under the present experimental conditions. In addition,higher temperature in the arc center would cause a sharper temperature decrease from the central region towards the edge.     

Time-Resolved Optical Emission Spectroscopy Diagnosis of CO2 Laser-Produced SnO2 Plasma

The spectral emission and plasma parameters of SnO_2 plasmas have been investigated.A planar ceramic SnO_2 target was irradiated by a CO2 laser with a full width at half maximum of 80 ns.The temporal behavior of the specific emission lines from the SnO_2 plasma was characterized.The intensities of Sn I and Sn II lines first increased,and then decreased with the delay time.The results also showed a faster decay of Sn I atoms than that of Sn II ionic species.The temporal evolutions of the SnO_2 plasma parameters(electron temperature and density) were deduced.The measured temperature and density of SnO_2 plasma are 4.38 eV to0.5 eV and 11.38×10~(17) cm~(-3) to 1.1×10~(17) cm~(-3),for delay times between 0.1 μs and 2.2 μs.We also investigated the effect of the laser pulse energy on SnO_2 plasma.     

Enhancing toluene removal in a plasma photocatalytic system through a black TiO_2 photocatalyst

An efficient toluene removal in air using a plasma photocatalytic system(PPS) not only needs favorable surface reactions over photocatalysts under the action of plasma,but also requires the photocatalysts to efficiently absorb light emitted from the discharge for driving the photocatalytic reactions. We report here that the PPS constructed by integrating a black titania(B-TiO_2)photocatalyst with a dielectric barrier discharge(DBD) can effectively remove toluene with above 70% CO_2 selectivity and remarkably reduced the concentration of secondary pollutants of ozone and nitrogen oxides at a specific energy input of 1500 J·l~(-1),while exhibiting good stability. Photocatalyst characterizations suggest that the B-TiO_2 provides a high concentration of oxygen vacancies for the surface oxidation of toluene in DBD,and efficiently absorbs ultraviolet–visible light emitted from the discharge to induce plasma photocatalytic oxidation of toluene. The presence of B-TiO_2 in the plasma region also results in a high discharge efficiency,facilitating the generation of large numbers of reactive species and thus the oxidation of toluene towards CO_2. The greatly enhanced performance of the PPS integrated with B-TiO_2 in toluene removal offers a promising approach to efficiently remove refractory volatile organic compounds from air at low temperatures.     

Ni-MOF-74的疏水改性及对CO吸附性能的影响

CO常与N₂、CH₄、CO₂及H₂O等气体混合存在，为纯化CO气体，采用Ni-MOF-74材料为吸附剂开展了探索性研究。通过PFAS(全氟烷基硅烷)浸渍法，制备了Ni-MOF-74疏水材料。通过接触角测量仪、SEM、傅里叶红外光谱仪对Ni-MOF-74材料表面疏水情况及形貌进行了分析，并探讨了浸渍温度、浸渍浓度、浸渍时间、浸渍次数对疏水性的影响，以及疏水改性对Ni-MOF-74的CO吸附性能的影响。确定了PFAS浸渍实验的工艺条件：浸渍温度110 ℃、浸渍时间24 h、浸渍1次、PFAS浓度3%。结果表明：PFAS成功覆盖在Ni-MOF-74材料上，但只有很少的PFAS覆盖到了Ni-MOF-74材料表面；PFAS改性后Ni-MOF-74的晶体结构遭到了部分破坏，热稳定性有所降低。     

Study of steam, helium and supercritical CO2 turbine power generations in prototype fusion power reactor

Power generation systems such as steam turbine cycle, helium turbine cycle and supercritical CO₂ (S-CO₂) turbine cycle are examined for the prototype nuclear fusion reactor. Their achievable cycle thermal efficiencies are revealed to be 40%, 34% and 42% levels for the heat source outlet coolant temperature of 480 °C, respectively, if no other restriction is imposed. In the current technology, however, low temperature divertor heat source is included. In this actual case, the steam turbine system and the S-CO₂ turbine system were compared in the light of cycle efficiency and plant cost. The values of cycle efficiency were 37.7% and 36.4% for the steam cycle and S-CO₂ cycle, respectively. The construction cost was estimated by means of component volume. The volume became 16,590 m³ and 7240 m³ for the steam turbine system and S-CO₂ turbine system, respectively. In addition, separation of permeated tritium from the coolant is much easier in S-CO₂ than in H₂O. Therefore, the S-CO₂ turbine system is recommended to the fusion reactor system than the steam turbine system.     

复杂混合气体组分在低温活性炭表面的吸附特性

为实现大体积气体中微量放射性气体Kr、Xe同位素的测量,须将混合气体进行浓集并将目标气体吸附于10 mL左右的活性炭源盒中。本实验对混合气体中各组分在活性炭分离柱上的吸附性能进行研究,建立了通过去除其他杂质气体、浓集大体积气体制备放射性Kr和Xe活度源的方法。根据反应堆流出气体和核爆可能生成的气体组分,配制了模拟气体,使用活化的4A分子筛对其中的水和CO₂进行模拟去除,获得了流程中去除水和CO₂的实验条件;选择5个低温点(273、264、255、246、238 K),在低温活性炭柱上对H₂、CO、CH₄、Kr和Xe的吸附特性进行研究,测定了各气体在不同温度下的吸附穿透曲线。结果表明,室温下4A分子筛对水和CO₂有较好的吸附效果。低温下,H₂、CO不易在活性炭表面吸附;CH₄、Kr吸附性质相似;Xe吸附能力较强。低温下难以去除的CH₄可在高温下氧化去除。因此,可根据混合气体中各组分性质的不同实现杂质气体的去除和目标气体Kr、Xe的回收测量。     

Importance of nuclear generation in the struggles to reduce CO2 emission at Kansai Electric Power Co.

It has been pointed out in recent years that the potential impacts of global warming has been becoming more and more serious because of the rapid increase of anthropogenic CO₂ emission.

Japan's annual CO₂ emissions (fiscal 1994) amounted to 343 million tons of carbon. Although CO₂ emissions caused by fossil-fuel power generation accounted for 29.4% of total, on a sector basis, those directly from the energy conversion sector accounted for only 7.7%. Most CO₂ emissions (21.7% of total) resulted from electric power use in the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors. Thus, the reduction of CO₂ emissions caused by the use of electricity is a nationwide subject.

Understanding that both supply side and demand side approaches are necessary, Kansai Electric has been deploying “New ERA Strategy” as a comprehensive strategy to seek a potential for CO₂ reduction more broadly and deeply. Among a number of action items are the promotion of nuclear power generation, and improvement of overall energy efficiency, besides such demand side measures as leveling off the peak load.

The effectiveness of action items of the New ERA Strategy was evaluated in terms of CO₂ reduction. As a result, estimated CO₂ reduction related to nuclear power amounted to 88% of the total for fiscal 1995 in comparison with 1990, and that expected in 2000 is 84%. These results reconfirm that nuclear power is always the key to practical CO₂ reduction at present and in the future.

Comparison with candidate technology alternatives revealed that photovoltaic power generation needed 7 times greater rated capacity and 280 times larger area than nuclear power, so it is not realistic as a central power station alternative. The comparison also clarified that if wind power stations were constructed at all feasible sites in the Kansai region, they would not be a viable alternative to a single nuclear unit from CO₂ reduction viewpoint.     

Operando FT-IR study on basicity improvement of Ni(Mg,Al)O hydrotalcite-derived catalysts promoted by glow plasma discharge

CO₂ adsorption on the surface of hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxide catalysts was investigated under low pressure glow discharge plasma in operando conditions via FT-IR spectroscopy. Nickel catalysts were promoted with various transition metal species (Ce, Fe, La, Zr) to influence their physico-chemical properties. Fe and Zr species were successfully incorporated into hydrotalcite brucite layers. After calcination formed a single phase with Ni(Mg, Al)O mixed oxide, while La and Ce species formed separate phases. This had a consequence in the distribution of surface basic sites as well as in the affinity to CO produced upon CO₂ dissociation in plasma. Plasma treatment activated the surface of prepared materials and changed their properties via the generation of strong basic sites associated with low coordinated surface oxygen anions. Moreover, the CO₂ adsorption capacity of prepared materials increased after plasma treatment.     

Plasma-assisted Ru/Zr-MOF catalyst for hydrogenation of CO2 to methane

As an important type of metal–organic framework (MOF), Zr-MOF shows excellent CO₂ adsorption performance. In this work, a Zr-MOF was synthesized by a solvothermal method and adopted to support Ru through simple incipient-wetness impregnation. Then the Ru/Zr-MOF was applied for CO₂ hydrogenation (V_H2 : V_CO2= 4:1) with the assistance of dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma. The hydrogenation of CO₂ results showed that methane was produced selectively under the synergistic effect between plasma and the Ru/Zr-MOF catalyst, and the selectivity and yield of methane reached 94.6% and 39.1%, respectively. The XRD and SEM analyses indicate that the basic crystalline phase structure and morphology of the Zr-MOF and Ru/Zr-MOF remained the same after DBD plasma treatment, suggesting that the catalysts are stable in plasma. The guest molecules in the pores of the Zr-MOF are removed and the Ru³⁺ ions are reduced to metallic Ru⁰ in the reduction atmosphere according to the BET and XPS results, which are responsible for the high performance of plasma with the Ru/Zr-MOF catalyst. In situ optical emission spectra of pure plasma, plasma with Zr-MOF, and plasma with Ru/Zr-MOF were measured, and the active species of C, H and CH for CO₂ hydrogenation were detected. The plasma-assisted Ru/Zr-MOF exhibited high catalytic activity and stability in CO₂ hydrogenation to methane, and it has great guiding significance for CO₂ hydrogenation by using plasma and MOF materials.     

Medium temperature carbon dioxide gas turbine reactor

A carbon dioxide (CO₂) gas turbine reactor with a partial pre-cooling cycle attains comparable cycle efficiencies of 45.8% at medium temperature of 650 °C and pressure of 7 MPa with a typical helium (He) gas turbine reactor of GT-MHR (47.7%) at high temperature of 850 °C. This higher efficiency is ascribed to: reduced compression work around the critical point of CO₂; and consideration of variation in CO₂ specific heat at constant pressure, C_p, with pressure and temperature into cycle configuration. Lowering temperature to 650 °C provides flexibility in choosing materials and eases maintenance through the lower diffusion leak rate of fission products from coated particle fuel by about two orders of magnitude. At medium temperature of 650 °C, less expensive corrosion resistant materials such as type 316 stainless steel are applicable and their performance in CO₂ have been proven during extensive operation in AGRs. In the previous study, the CO₂ cycle gas turbomachinery weight was estimated to be about one-fifth compared with He cycles. The proposed medium temperature CO₂ gas turbine reactor is expected to be an alternative solution to current high-temperature He gas turbine reactors.     

The effect of gas additives on reactive species and bacterial inactivation by a helium plasma jet

In this paper,the influences of gas doping(O_2,N_2,Air)on the concentrations of reactive species and bactericidal effects induced by a He plasma jet are studied.Firstly,results show that gas doping causes an increase in voltage and a decrease in current compared with the pure He discharge under the same discharge power,which might be attributed to the different chemical characteristics of O_2 and N_2 and verified by the changes in the gaseous reactive species shown in the optical emission spectroscopy(OES) and Fourier transform infrared(FTIR)spectroscopy.Secondly,the concentrations of aqueous reactive oxygen species(ROS) and reactive nitrogen species(RNS) are tightly related to the addition of O_2 and N_2 into the working gas.The concentrations of aqueous NO_2~- and NO_3~- significantly increase while the concentrations of aqueous ROS decrease with the admixture of N_2.The addition of O_2 has little effect on the concentrations of NO_2~- and NO_3~- and pH values; however,the addition of O_2 increases the concentration of O_2~- and deceases the concentrations of H_2O_2 and OH.Finally,the results of bactericidal experiments demonstrate that the inactivation efficiency of the four types of plasma jets is He?+?O_2??He+AirHeHe+N_2,which is in accordance with the changing trend of the concentration of aqueous O_2~-.Simultaneously to the better understanding of the formation and removal mechanisms of reactive species in the plasma–liquid interaction,these results also prove the effectiveness of regulating the concentrations of aqueous reactive species and the bacteria inactivation effects by gas doping.     

CO2+O2地浸采铀饱和树脂酸化技术与应用

介绍了CO₂+O₂地浸采铀和酸法地浸采铀的水冶回收工艺,依据新疆某地浸铀矿山的铀矿水冶工艺现状,提出将CO₂+O₂地浸采铀工艺下饱和树脂纳入酸法地浸水冶回收系统进行处理的酸化工艺。分析了CO₂+O₂浸出工艺下碳酸铀酰型饱和树脂的酸化转化机理,开展了以酸法水冶系统中淋洗剂、转型剂、洗涤合格液为酸化剂的搅拌浸泡试验。结果表明,酸法水冶系统中的洗涤合格液是符合工艺要求的酸化剂,可充分利用洗涤合格液中的剩余酸度对碳酸铀酰型饱和树脂进行转化,并将转化后树脂对铀的吸附容量由74.71 g/L提高至76.73 g/L,实现了与酸法水冶系统再饱和树脂的共同淋洗和转型。     

热压烧结UN陶瓷芯块的性能

UN燃料具有铀密度高、熔点高、热导率高、热膨胀系数低、辐照稳定性好等优点,是未来空间核电源、核火箭、快堆和ADS的重要候选燃料。本文采用金属铀粉与氮气在300～400℃直接发生化合反应,制得单相U₂N₃粉末。粒度为38.3 μm的U₂N₃粉末在1 600 ℃真空热压烧结,制得相对密度为93.5%、存在少量金属铀相的UN陶瓷;而18.1 μm的U₂N₃粉末在1 550 ℃真空热压烧结,制得相对密度为96.1%、不残留金属铀相的UN陶瓷,U与N的总质量分数为99.57%,每个金属杂质含量均低于50 μg/g,氧含量为1 048 μg/g,碳含量为502 μg/g。U₂N₃在1 027 ℃以上将会完全分解成UN,UN在1 627 ℃以上也会发生分解。     

Roles of nuclear energy in Japan's future energy systems

The roles of nuclear energy in Japan's future energy systems were analyzed from the viewpoint of securing stable energy supply and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. The MARKAL model, developed in the Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP) of the IEA, was used for establishing several energy scenarios with different assumptions on the availability of nuclear energy, natural gas, and a CO₂ disposal option. Nuclear energy was assumed to apply for synthetic fuel production as well as for conventional electric power generation. By comparing the CO₂ emission and system costs between these energy scenarios, following results were obtained. Without nuclear energy, the CO₂ emissions will hardly be reduced because of substantial increases in coal utilization. CO₂ disposal will be effective in reducing the emissions, however at much higher costs than the case with nuclear energy. The expansion of natural gas imports, if alone, will not reduce the emissions at enough low levels.