The effect of toluene trace admixtures on the plasma‐assisted oxygen trace removal from hydrogen‐rich gas mixtures in a surface dielectric barrier discharge reactor

Abstract

AbstractA surface dielectric barrier discharge reactor was applied in the removal of oxygen traces from coke oven gas (COG), to which toluene was added as a model hydrocarbon contaminant. The adverse effect of toluene on O2 conversion was observed in a H2/N2/O2 mixture, while in synthetic COG consisting of H2, CH4, N2, CO, CO2, and O2, it remained unchanged. Online gas chromatography (GC) showed that the reactivity of toluene is mainly driven by H2/N2/O2. The accumulated residue was dissolved and analyzed by GC coupled with mass spectrometry. The identified reaction products suggest that toluene undergoes ring‐opening  and  functionalization.