Conversion of CO₂ in stabilized low-current arc discharge at atmospheric pressure

Abstract One of the direct ways to achieve CO2 conversion is through the use of a non-isothermal plasma environment. In this work, we present an experimental study of the dissociation of CO2 in a magnetically-stabilized arc discharge in a cross-flow configuration, where the CO2 gas flow is perpendicular to both the arc and the external magnetic field. The system works at atmospheric pressure. The study examines the effect of the gas flow and discharge current on the quantities of most interest, namely, the CO2 conversion percentage and the energy efficiency of the process. The experimental results show that the conversion tends to increase with the current, while it drops as the gas flow rate is increased. The efficiency seems to decrease with the conversion percentage, as it increases with the flow rate.