3D modelling of carbon black formation and particle radiation during methane cracking by thermal plasma

Abstract : In this work, a steady three dimensional CFD simulation that describes the strong coupling between the complex phenomena existing in the plasma reactor is presented using the commercial software FLUENT ®. The model includes the turbulence effects (by k-ε standard model), an electric arc sub-model to describe the time-average Lorentz forces and ohmic heating generated by the three-phase power-supply, the methane transport in an argon plasma, the soot formation from methane decomposition and the radiation calculation. The radiation model takes into account the modification of the absorption coefficient due to the presence of solid carbon particles. The main computed fields (velocities, temperature and absorption coefficient) are presented and discussed. The influence of operating conditions as argon and methane flow rates and arc current is shown