Kabalan, B (2012) Design, implementation and control of microwave plasma gasification system for syngas production. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool John Moores University.

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Abstract

This thesis provides a solution for sustainable energy production. It applies the newest technologies of microwave plasma on a traditional method known as gasification. The simulation of this system has been achieved through a high frequency structure simulator to decide the best design of the structure. Microwave radiation at the frequency of 2.45 GHz has been applied to ionise argon gas and convert it into plasma. It has been proven that plasma can be self-initiated with an appropriate electric field applied. This microwave-induced plasma is the heart and soul of the Liverpool John Moores University's gasification system. It is coupled to a gasification chamber to gasify the feedstock placed inside and extract its energy as synthesis gas (i.e. hydrogen and carbon monoxide). Feedstock used in this study is carbon based material including pieces of wood and palm date seeds. This work is novel as no other work upto the date of this thesis completion has studied the different variables affecting plasma creation, plus the automation and the fully control of the microwave plama gasification system. Results reveal that after improvement of the microwave-induced plasma by automated control, it was possible to increase the synthesis gas production to 25.7% hydrogen and more than 57.6% carbon monoxide. This study has included the effects of some parameters on the plasma created, thus on its efficiency. These parameters are; the power of the microwave radiation, the reflected power from the system, the flow rate of argon and the pressure inside the gasification chamber. Other effects were taken into consideration throughout the project such as the study of the sample's moisture levels on the gas production and the use of helium gas instead of argon for plasma creation. The system has proved the benefits of applying microwave-induced plasma technology on the gasification technology. These benefits can be summarised as the reduction of the input power needed for the procedure from the range of megawatts to 1 kilowatt, and the flexibility achieved through controlling the plasma jet for an improved process.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering
Divisions:	Civil Engineering & Built Environment
Date Deposited:	04 Jun 2019 14:44
Last Modified:	03 Sep 2021 22:52
DOI or ID number:	10.24377/LJMU.t.00010832
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/10832

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