Bioglycerol Conversion in the Reverse Vortex Gas Flow Plasma-Liquid System (Tornado-Type) with Liquid Electrode and Addition of CO2

Abstract

Bioglycerol (crude glycerine) usually consists of – 35-50% glycerine, 10-20% methanol and soap mixture and the initial vegetable oil esters. It is a by-product of the biodiesel production. However, the direct combustion of bioglycerol is dangerous, because this combustion has by-product – acrolein (acrylic aldehyde). Acrolein is very toxic and flammable substance. Along with this, bioglycerol can be used to generate syngas. In this paper describes the bioglycerol reforming, which uses the combined system that includes plasma processing and handling in the pyrolysis chamber. The studied plasma source is the "tornado" type reverse vortex gas flow plasma-liquid system with a liquid electrode. The working gas is a mixture of air and CO2. The bioglycerol or mixture of bioglycerol and distilled water have been used as the working liquids. The present article describes the stable operation regime: current-voltage characteristics of the discharge, emission spectrum of the plasma, transmission spectra and composition of gas at the outlet of the system. It is shown that the energy efficiency under bioglycerol reforming is higher than during the ethanol reforming at the same CO2/air flow ratios in the input gas.