A packed bed plasma reactor (PBPR) was designed, characterized and optimized for ozone generation from oxygen and air. The effects of reactor arrangement, feed gas flow rate, coolant temperature, input power and dielectric material on ozone generation were investigated. The highest ozone concentration of 152 g m ⁻³ was obtained using 2.0 mm borosilicate glass beads and a 0.06 dm ³ min ⁻¹ oxygen feed at 5 °C, whilst the highest ozone yield efficiency was 209 g kW ⁻¹ h ⁻¹ at an oxygen feed rate of 20 dm ³ min ⁻¹ . The highest ozone concentration produced from air was 15.6 g m ⁻³ at a flow rate of 0.06 dm ³ min ⁻¹ with 2.0 mm 3 A molecular sieves beads (MS) beads as the dielectric. It was found that the effect of the dielectric on ozone generation affected significantly by the feed gas composition and flow rate. In addition, ozone production affected significantly by the number of dielectric layers in contact with the HV electrodes, thickness of packing and reactor arrangement. Different NO _x by-products were formed along with ozone when the PBPR was fed with air depending on the coolant temperature and feed gas flow rate.

Feeding IC engines with hydrogen-rich syngas as an admixture to hydrocarbon fuels can decrease pollutant emissions, particularly NOx. It offers a potential technique for low-environmental impact hydrocarbon fuel use in automotive applications. However, hydrogen-rich reformate gas (syngas) production via fuel reforming still needs more research and optimization. In this paper, we describe the effect of a plasma torch assembly design on syngas yield and composition during plasma-assisted reforming of gasoline. Additionally, erosion resistance of the cathode-emitting material under the conditions of gasoline reforming was studied, using hafnium metal and lanthanated tungsten alloy. The gasoline reforming was performed with a noncatalytic, nonthermal, low-current plasma system in the conditions of partial oxidation in an air and steam mixture. To find the most efficient plasma torch assembly configuration in terms of hydrogen production yield, four types of anode design were tested, i.e., two types of the swirl ring, and two cathode materials while varying the inlet air and fuel flow rates. The experimental results showed that hydrogen was the highest proportion of the produced syngas. The smooth funnel shape anode design in Ring 1 at air/fuel flow rates of 24/4, 27/4.5, and 30/5 g/min, respectively, was more effective than the edged funnel shape. Lanthanated tungsten alloy displayed higher erosion resistance than hafnium metal.