Plasma Chemical Engineering

CHE673

Dr. Fahad Rehman

Course objectives

To integrate fundamental knowledge of

chemical engineering, plasma physics and
plasma chemistry to design of plasma
reactors for chemical synthesis

Course Contents
Introduction to plasma, field equations, conservation
equations, Boltzmann's equation, Debye shielding,
Debye length, plasma sheath, collisions in plasmas,
types of collisions, elementary reactions in plasma,
LTE and non-LTE plasmas, breakdown processes in
non-LTE plasmas, types of plasmas, atmospheric
pressure glow discharges, Corona discharges,
Dielectric barrier discharges, capacitively coupled
plasmas, arc discharges, micro-discharges, CurrentVoltage characteristics of DC and AC powered
plasmas, Townsend mechanism of electrical
breakdown, spark breakdown mechanism, Paschen
curve, plasma- chemical kinetics, kinetics of O3
formation, Kinetics of H2 formation, plasma power

Textbook:
Goldstone R. J., & Rutherford P.H., 1995, Introduction to Plasma
Physics, IOP publishing.
Fridman, A. A. & Kennedy, L. A. 2004. Plasma physics and
engineering, CRC.
Lieberman, M. A. & Lichtenberg, A. J. 2005. Principle of Plasma
Discharge and Material Processing, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Bellan, P. M. 2006. Fundamentals of plasma physics, Cambridge
Univ Pr.
Fridman, A. A. 2008. Plasma chemistry, Cambridge Univ Pr.

Plasma Chemical Engineering-We are the first

one to study
this subject as a formal course in the class-not
in
COMSATS but in the Planet Earth

A Chemical Reaction

A Plasma Chemical Reaction

A Plasma Chemical Reaction

A Plasma Chemical Reaction

A Plasma Chemical Reaction

A Plasma Chemical Reaction

What is Plasma ?

reek word ()"anything formed or Mould.

rst Used by Langmuir in 1929 for electrical discharg

In a more rigorous way plasma could be
defined as a quasi-neutral gas of charged
and neutral particles characterised by a
collective behaviour.

What is Plasma ?

reek word ()"anything formed or Mould.

rst Used by Langmuir in 1929 for electrical discharg

In a more rigorous way plasma could be
defined as a quasi-neutral gas of charged
and neutral particles characterised by a
collective behaviour.

What is Plasma ?

eek word ()"anything formed or Mould.

st Used by Langmuir in 1929 for electrical discharge

Except near the electrodes, where there are
sheaths containing very few electrons, the
ionized gas contains ions and electrons in
about equal numbers so that the resultant
space charge is very small. We shall use the
name plasma to describe this region
containing
What
is difference
between
and an
balanced
charges
of ions Plasma
and electrons.
ionised gas ?

What is Plasma ?

In a more rigorous way plasma

could be defined as a quasineutral gas of charged and neutral
particles characterised by a
collective behaviour.

How Plasma is Formed

1- By heating the matter

How Plasma is Formed

2- By applying the electric field

How Plasma is Formed

3. By Application of magnetic field

4. By application of microwave

5. By application of ultra sound

..........

Fundamental Properties of Plasma

1. Temperature
Electron temperature

Temperature of gas particles

Excitation temperature
Rotational temperature
Vibrational temperature

Would they be the same under Magnetic field ?

Number Density (m-3)

Electron number density ne
Gas particle density no
Degree of ionisation= ne/no

Magnetic Field (Tesla)

Classification of Plasma
Local thermal-equilibrium Plasma
Non local thermal-equilibrium Plasma

MSc- Research Projects

Lets work together!!!

Production of turbostratic carbon

for the use in direct carbon fuel
cell

Direct Carbon fuel cell

I.

Uses a slurry of carbon

particles in molten salts

II. Feed is distributed by

entrainment in CO2 gas
III. CO2 gas is evolved from
the anode chamber
C
O2

+
+

2CO322CO2

3CO2
+

4e-

4e2CO32-

(Anode)
(Cathode)

Turbostratic carbon
I.

Atomic Planes
arranged at diff.
Angles
II. Lots of Defects at
the Edges
III. More Space
between the layers
then that of
Graphite

Process variables
Samples= 3 biomass sample, 3
different coal or ???
Particle size ?
Grinding before thermal processing or
after?
Heating time ?
Heating rate?
Temperature?

Analysis
X-ray diffraction (XRD)
Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM)
Transmission electron microscopy
(TEM)

XRD
1500

120

Graphite
(peak 1)

Carbon black
(peak 1)

100

Intensity

Intensity

1000

500

80
60
40
20

0
15

20

25

30

35

40

2 theta

15

20

25

30

35

40

2 theta

TEM

Wastewater treatment with

microbubbles

Process variables
Flow rate of air
Different types of pollutants
Electrophilic/nucleophilic (Phenol etc.,)

Analysis
GC/MS