Decomposition of benzene in the RF plasma environment. Part I. Formation of gaseous products and carbon depositions.

This study employed radio-frequency (RF) plasma for decomposing benzene (C6H6) gas, and examined both gaseous products and solid depositions after reaction. The reactants and products were analyzed mainly by using both an on-line Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer and a gas chromatography. The analyses for solid deposition included electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), element analysis and heat value analysis. The C2H2, C2H4, C2H6, CH4, CO2 and CO were detected and discussed. The analytical results demonstrate that in the C6H6/Ar plasma, C2H2 is the sole gaseous product being detected. The fraction of total carbon input converted into C2H2 YC2H2 increased with increasing C6H6 feed concentration, but decreased with increasing input power. In the C6H6/H2/Ar system, besides C2H2, CH4, C2H4 and C2H6 were also detected, and their yields increased with increasing H2/C6H6 ratio. The above results indicated that the addition of H2 (auxiliary gas) achieves the benefit of creating hydrogen-rich species like CH4, C2H4 and C2H6. In the C6H6/O2/Ar system, C6H6 could be totally oxidized into CO2, CO and H2O, and no measurable phenol was found. Analyses of solid depositions revealed that the carbon depositions were similar to those of Anthracite. The carbon deposition has a heat value of 7000 kcal/kg. Additionally, the possible reaction pathways were also built up and discussed.