Experimental study of hydrogen production and carbon deposit from spark discharge plasma of DME

A multistage spark plasma system was set up and experiments of hydrogen production by spark plasma of dimethyl ether (DME) were performed at atmospheric pressure. The effects of relative parameters on hydrogen yield and energy consumption were investigated. The experimental results showed that with the increase of pulse duty ratio, the H ₂ yield initially increased and then decreased. Increasing stage number enhanced the yield of hydrogen. In general, the converter with 3-stages was desirable for higher H ₂ yield and that with single stage was desirable for low energy consumption. When heat preservation configuration was employed, the DME conversion rate and the H ₂ yield were enhanced, while the energy consumption was much lower than standard situation at each discharge frequency. When A/D ratio was beyond 2.5, the carbon deposit forming on the electrode was clearly reduced for the increase of oxygen in the reactant.