Reaction in plasma generated in supercritical carbon dioxide

The generation of non-thermal plasmas was studied under supercritical conditions. This is interesting in view of both the basic phenomena involved and of potential industrial applications. When supercritical fluids are combined with discharge plasma they develop unique characteristics, including an enhanced chemical reactivity. This is the motivation for investigating the generation of discharge plasma in supercritical CO2. In this study, breakdown voltages were measured in CO2 in order to generate electric discharges in supercritical CO2. The experimental data show that the breakdown voltage increased smoothly up to the intersection points, but beyond these points the rates of increase of the breakdown voltage are different. This phenomenon can be explained with the help of pressure-density curves of carbon dioxide at a constant temperature. In addition, the generated plasma in supercritical CO2 was applied to several chemical reactions. The alpha conversion of tocopherols and transesterification of soybean oil with methanol were investigated. In addition, we explored the possibility of replacing catalysts with plasma in supercritical CO2.