Intensification of methane upgrading into ethylene via additive manufacturing of nanosecond pulsed plasma reactor

Valorization of a greenhouse gas such as methane (CH4) into value-added ethylene (C2H4) can be paramount to combat climate change and foster economic prosperity. Non-thermal plasma reactors running solely on renewable electricity can enable modular, decentralized transformation of CH4 from natural gas or biogas in a sustainable fashion.The DisCH4rg3D project will develop a catalytic Nanosecond Pulsed Discharge (NPD) plasma reactor for single-pass upgrading of CH4 into C2H4 with energy requirement competitive with the state-of-the-art industrial benchmark (i.e., 600 kJ/molC2H4). The reactor configuration entails a plate-to-plate plasma discharge for CH4 activation followed by a catalytic step where acetylene (C2H2) hydrogenation into C2H4 enhances the process throughput.The energy input to the plasma discharge will be optimized with the help of an Artificial Neural Network which will relate the operating parameters to the energy performance of the reactor. The catalytic reaction following the plasma discharge-activation will be performed by a bimetallic hydrogenation catalyst deposited on a 3D-printed Periodic Open Cell Structure (POCS), which also serves as ground electrode. Heat integration between the plasma zone and the catalytic region allows operation without external heating, thus increasing the energy efficiency of the system. The catalyst composition can be tuned separately to intensify the C2H2 conversion into C2H4, whilst computer-aided design of the POCS can target optimal heat exchange. The same integration approach will be used for the direct conversion of a biogas stream of CH4 and CO2 into syngas to showcase the versatility of the system that can represent a blueprint for modular, catalytic plasma reactors.Ultimately, Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) and Life Cylce Assessment (LCA) will be conducted to compare the proposed process with the fossil fuel-based industrial benchamk, hence to appraise its industrial feasibility.