Low temperature kinetics of pentane oxidation in a nanosecond-pulsed plasma discharge

Low temperature oxidation of pentane utilizing a nanosecond repetitively-pulsed dielectric barrier discharge was carried out to study the kinetic pathways of plasma assisted oxidation and improve modeling capabilities. Time-dependent species and temperature measurements using in situ tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), were carried out for key product and radical species, such as OH, CH₂O, H₂O, CH₄, and C₂H₂, for model comparison and to locate areas of improvement. Measurements show monotonic behavior to increasing pulse frequency, and little to no species conversion after the plasma burst. Heat loss during the burst plays a key role in maintaining plasma uniformity. Numerical comparisons show order of magnitude agreement with H2O and CH2O, but significant under prediction of other major measured species, especially early in the plasma burst, suggesting the low temperature pathways May be under predicting product formation, or plasma interaction with intermediate species.