Dataset of CH4 cracking provoked by non-equilibrium plasma

This dataset is the supporting data for the research paper titled “Reaction Mechanisms and Cracking Performance of CH4 provoked by Non-Equilibrium Plasma”. This work systematically investigated the cracking performance, reaction energy intensity, and reaction pathway of CH4 provoked by dielectric barrier discharge plasma, and explored the influence of key operating parameters.1. Data generation process and methodsThis dataset was generated from a laboratory non-thermal plasma chemical reaction platform. The core process is as follows:Reaction system: Adopting coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor. The inner diameter of the quartz tube is 20 mm and the wall thickness is 2.5 mm. The inner electrode is a stainless steel rod with a diameter of 16 mm, and the outer electrode is a stainless steel wire mesh with a length of 150 mm wrapped around the outer wall of the quartz tube.Feed and Gas Distribution: High purity CH4(99.99%) and N2(99.99%) are measured by a mass flow controller and mixed in a fixed ratio (usually CH4:N2=10:90) in a gas mixer before being introduced into the DBD reactor. N2 is used as a diluent and carrier gas to stabilize discharge and improve detection accuracy.Plasma excitation and parameter control: High frequency and high voltage power supply (Corona Lab CTP-2000K) is used to drive the DBD reactor to generate non-thermal plasma. Adjust the applied voltage and frequency (5-20 kHz) through a voltage regulator and power supply. The discharge voltage and current are collected in real-time by a digital oscilloscope.Measurement and characterization:Electrical characteristics: The discharge power is calculated using Lissajous graphical method by measuring the relationship between the voltage across the series sampling capacitor (Cm) and the output voltage of the power supply.Temperature field: Use an infrared thermal imager to record the temperature distribution on the outer wall of the reactor after it reaches a quasi steady state (approximately 50 minutes of discharge).Product analysis: After measuring the total flow rate of the reacted gas through a soap film flowmeter, it is imported online into a gas chromatograph equipped with TCD and FID detectors for qualitative and quantitative analysis.Reaction performance calculation: Based on GC analysis results, calculate the CH4 conversion and the yield of various gaseous products (H2, C2H6, C2H4, C2H2, C3H8, C3H6, C3H4).Reaction energy intensity calculation: Calculate the reaction energy intensity based on the standard molar enthalpy change and discharge power of the DBD reator.Mechanism analysis data: Using BOLSIG+ software, based on the experimentally measured reduced electric field range, the rate coefficient and energy loss fraction of CH4 key electron collision reaction were calculated.2. Data processing stepsRaw data collection: Record raw measurement values directly from equipment (GC, oscilloscope, thermal imager, flowmeter).Data preprocessing: Calibrate the GC peak area (using standard gas) and calculate the concentration of each component. Perform numerical integration on the Lissajous graph to determine its area. Extract the highest temperature and temperature cloud map from the feature areas image.Performance index calculation: Using the formula provided in the paper, batch calculate the CH4 conversion(XCH4), product yields (Yxx), discharge power (P), and reaction energy intensity (EI) for each experiment.Statistics and Summary: Repeat each experimental condition three times and calculate the average and standard deviation of performance indicators. Summarize the results under all experimental conditions into a table.Simulation data generation: Using the experimentally determined reduced electric field (E/N) range as input, run BOLSIG+ to solve the Boltzmann equation, and output the electron energy distribution function and corresponding collision reaction rate data.3. Main equipment and tools usedPlasma Generator: Corona Lab CTP-2000K Power SupplyReactor: Customized quartz tube dielectric barrier discharge reactorGas control system: mass flow controller, gas mixerElectrical measurement: Tektronix TBS2000B digital oscilloscope, high voltage probe, sampling capacitorProduct analysis: Shimadzu GC-2014 gas chromatograph (with TCD/FID)Temperature measurement: FLIR A6750 infrared thermal imagerFlow measurement: Beilao BL1000 soap film flowmeterSimulation software: BOLSIG+(used for plasma chemical reaction kinetics calculations)Data processing software: Origin (for data calculation and plotting), MS Excel (for data organization)