Two-modes model of the non-equilibrium plasma chemical dissociation of CO2.

The vibrational kinetics model of the dissociation process CO2 + M → CO + O + M based on the two-modes (symmetric–asymmetric) approximation is presented. The model has shown to produce the effective dissociation rate of CO2 under conditions of thermal equilibrium close to that obtained experimentally. Results of the 0D calculations of the CO2 conversion in non-equilibrium conditions of a microwave plasma discharge are discussed. The chemical energy efficiency obtained in the calculations at translational-rotational temperature 300 K and degree of ionization 10−5 is between 42 and 56% depending on the assumptions. The efficiency is found to reduce and eventually vanish at elevated temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]