Manufacturing of hydrogen from hydrocarbons is needed for a variety of applications, especially for fuel cell powered vehicles and plasma treatment of exhaust gas. Though plasma-assisted reforming of gaseous hydrocarbons provides several advantages over conventional reforming technologies, creating plasmas directly in liquid hydrocarbons can potentially lead to smaller size and higher throughput reaction vessels with product selectivity different from the plasma formed in gaseous hydrocarbons. This project investigates the fundamental chemical processes occurring during direct-in-liquid plasma-assisted reforming of liquid hydrocarbons and alcohols. The experimental work uses radical scavenging techniques, plasma spectroscopy, as well as deuterated and isotopically labeled solvents to elucidate chemical pathways responsible for the formation of hydrogen, short-chained hydrocarbons, and syngas during direct reforming of liquid fuels with and without water or air. The theoretical effort focuses on the development of kinetic models for electrical discharges in ethanol and in iso-octane with the purpose of comparing theoretical (i.e. predicted) and experimental byproducts. The work also extends to the characterization of the discharge using fast optical imaging, schlieren and shadowgraphic imaging, and interferometry. The project and its related activities directly engage undergraduate and graduate students, extend to local elementary school students, and educate the general public.
