Highly efficient nitrogen fixation enabled by an atmospheric pressure rotating gliding arc

Abstract

Abstract A rotating gliding arc is proposed as a promising alternative to enable direct nitrogen fixation from ubiquitous air under mild conditions. The effect of different process parameters on NO x generation and energy consumption has been investigated through a combination of experiments and artificial neural network (ANN) modeling. The optical emission spectroscopic diagnostics together with electrical diagnostics and high‐speed photography has been used to understand the variation of the discharge characteristics. The lowest energy consumption of NO x production (4.2 MJ/mol) is achieved at a gas flow rate of 12 L/min and an O 2 concentration of 20 vol%. The simulation results from the ANN model show a good agreement with the experimental data and the model enables us to evaluate the relative importance of the process parameters to the reaction performance.