5. Conclusion
It was demonstrated that the lower plasma density is preferable in carbon dioxide reforming of methane by the pulsed
plasma. The hydrogen production efficiency of more than 50%
was achieved in this process at near room temperatures. As far
as the dissociation by electron impacts is of interest, the carbon
dioxide molecule is considered as a good molecule. Molecules
having highly vibrational excitation cross-section, by electron
impacts, and low rate of vibrational relaxation, are preferred in
plasma processes [10]. Consequently, the methane could be
effectively reformed by the other molecules that have the
aforementioned two important properties. The importance of
the vibrational or electronic excitations in molecular dissociation has been also shown in other works [10,11].
The pulsed plasma reactor that was presented in this study
needs more investigations in order to find better conditions in
terms of efficiency, selectivity for the other important products and so on. In particular, the study of air- or steam-plasma
reforming of methane can be interesting.