Decomposition mechanism of organic compounds by DC water plasmas at atmospheric pressure

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the decomposition mechanism of organic compounds by water plasmas. The plasma torch can generate 100%-steam by DC discharge without a commercially available steam generator. Methanol or ethanol used as a model substance of water-soluble organic compounds was mixed with water for plasma supporting gas. The main gases after the decomposition were H₂, CO, and CO₂. The 50 wt.% of carbon was transformed into solid carbon in 5 mol%-ethanol decomposition, while the solid-carbon formation from 5 mol%-methanol was negligible. Larger amount of solid-carbon formation from ethanol decomposition indicates the different mechanism between methanol and ethanol decomposition.