Obtaining Hydrogen and Carbon Materials from Hydrocarbonic Gas in Microwave Plasma Discharge at Amospheric Pressure

This paper presents the results of a pilot study of the process of hydrocarbonic gas conversion in microwave plasma discharge at atmospheric pressure. A microwave plasmatron of the waveguide type with the power of up to 3 kW was developed and used as a plasma source. Hydrocarbonic gas is both a chemical reagent and a plasma-forming environment in this plasmatron. A peculiarity of the developed microwave plasmatron is the presence of an active system for initiating and maintaining microwave discharge in its structure. It has been demonstrated that a high (up to 70%) degree of conversion of hydrocarbonic gases can be attained in microwave plasma discharge. The products of plasmochemical reaction are hydrogen and a carbon material. The carbon material contains up to 60% of carbon nanotubes. The phase structure of the material and the cross sizes of carbon nanotubes are provided herein.