Green Plasma Technology I
2:00 pm – 4:15 pm,
Tuesday October 14 Session FT3 COEX, Room E4
Integrated Plasma-Solid Oxide Electrolyte Cell Technology for CO2 Utilization
3:15 pm – 3:30 pmPresenter: Xingyu Chen (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER), Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
Authors: Aleksandr Pikalev (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER), Eindhoven, The Netherlands), Vasco Guerra (Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa), Guanjun Zhang (School of Electrical Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China), Richard van de Sanden (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER), Eindhoven, The Netherlands)
At the intersection of renewable energy integration and carbon dioxide utilization lies an opportunity to simultaneously address Earth's climate challenges while advancing Mars exploration capabilities. Hybrid plasma-solid oxide electrolyte cell (SOEC) systems have shown promise in this CO2 splitting processes and oxygen separation [1-3]. This study investigates an integrated plasma-SOEC system that converts CO2 into valuable products using renewable electricity.
We evaluated oxygen production performance in a plasma-SOEC hybrid system, focusing on plasma power effects and SOEC operating temperature optimization. Conventional CO2 electrolysis without plasma demonstrated limited efficiency due to sluggish surface kinetics. However, applying plasma power lower than the SOEC heating power achieved synergistic energy efficiency, resulting in a forty-fold improvement in oxygen transport performance. The system can achieve high oxygen separation efficiency up to 98%. Surface kinetic analysis revealed oxygen as the dominant reactant competing with CO for surface kinetics. The plasma-enhanced system inhibited CO recombination compared to conventional SOEC operation while improving CO2 conversion rate. Ex-situ experiments mimicking plasma-generated fluxes at higher temperatures (700-800°C) showed decreased oxygen pumping efficiency due to enhanced CO oxidation, confirming the advantage of plasma synergy.
This technology offers dual terrestrial and extraterrestrial benefits. For Earth applications, it enhances carbon recycling capabilities supporting circular economy principles while improving efficiency in CO2 conversion processes. For Mars missions, the system enables efficient oxygen production at reduced temperatures, allowing compact, energy-efficient life-support systems optimized for Martian conditions. This research creates valuable synergies between solving Earth's environmental challenges and enabling exploration to Mars.
References
[1] S. Mori et al, Plasma Process. Polym. 14, 1600153 (2017).
[2] G. Chen et al., Chem. Eng. J. 392, 123699 (2020).
[3] Zhu H, et al., ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. (2025).
Funding acknowledgement
IPFN activities were funded by FCT under projects doi: 10.54499/UIDB/50010/2020, 10.54499/UIDP/50010/2020, 10.54499/LA/P/0061/202 and 10.54499/PTDC/FIS-PLA/1616/2021.
PRESENTATIONS (9)
- 2:00 pm – 2:15 pmExploring the Synergy Between Flow Dynamics and VOC Conversion in Surface Dielectric Barrier Discharges
Alexander Böddecker (presenter), Maximilian Passmann, Angie Natalia Torres Segura, Arisa Bodnar, Felix Awakowicz, Timothy Oppotsch, Martin Muhler, Peter Awakowicz, Andrew R. Gibson, Ihor Korolov, Thomas Mussenbrock
- 2:15 pm – 2:30 pmUncovering performance-enhancing strategy in plasma-based NH₃ cracking via chemical kinetics modeling
Seunghwan Bang (presenter), Stein Maerivoet, Annemie Bogaerts
- 2:30 pm – 2:45 pmAmmonia synthesis using nitrogen/water vapor inductively coupled plasma
Kyohei Kita (presenter), Yoshinobu Inagaki, Koichi Sasaki
- 2:45 pm – 3:00 pmPure hydrogen and hydrogen-carbon dioxide for plasma iron oxide smelting reduction
Jordan Nunes Figueiredo (presenter), Bassam Dally, Deanna A. Lacoste
- 3:00 pm – 3:15 pmStudy of Gaseous and Solid Carbon-based Byproducts during the Plasmolysis of Hydrocarbons in a Gliding Arc Discharge Reactor
Assan Abdirakhmanov (presenter), Pierre Mathieu, Yuan Tian, Carla Bittencourt, Rony Snyders
- 3:15 pm – 3:30 pmIntegrated Plasma-Solid Oxide Electrolyte Cell Technology for CO2 Utilization
Xingyu Chen (presenter), Aleksandr Pikalev, Vasco Guerra, Guanjun Zhang, Richard van de Sanden
- 3:30 pm – 3:45 pmPlasma-Based CO₂ Capture and Conversion: Engineering a Low-Carbon Future
Pankaj Attri (presenter), Sukuma W Fitriani, Hibiki Otobe, Naoya Hidaka, Takamasa Okumura, Masaharu Shiratani, Kazunori Koga
- 3:45 pm – 4:00 pmUnraveling Synergistic Mechanisms for Advanced Space Habitat Life Support Systems (Part I): Pressure-Driven Optimization of O₂ Yield in Plasma CO₂ Conversion
Dingchen Li (presenter)
- 4:00 pm – 4:15 pmA Claim-Centric Dataset for evaluating the contribution of Low-Temperature Plasma Science in Green Plasma Technologies
Bhaskar Chaudhury (presenter), Kalp K Pandya, Nirmal D Shah, Sahil Sadarangani, Agam Shah