Hydrogen production from methanol through dielectric barrier discharge

The hydrogen fuel cell is a promising option as a future energy resource and the production of hydrogen is mainly depended on fossil fuels now. In this paper, methanol reforming to produce H₂ through dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reaction was studied. Effects of the power supply parameters, reactor parameters and process conditions on conversion of methanol and distribution of products were investigated. The best reaction conditions were following: input power (45 W), material of inner electrode (stainless steel), discharge gap (3.40 mm), length of reaction zone (90.00 mm), dielectric thickness (1.25 mm), and methanol content (37.65%). The highest conversion of methanol and the yield of H₂ were 82.38% and 27.43%, respectively.