| Summary: | The conversion of methane was investigated in a packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor operated at ambient conditions. High dielectric BaTiO<sub>3</sub> was utilized as packing in comparison with γ-alumina, α-alumina, and silica-SBA-15. Results show a considerably lower conversion of CH<sub>4</sub> and C<sub>2</sub> yield for the BaTiO<sub>3</sub> packed reactor, which is even less than that obtained for the nonpacked reactor. In contrast, the low dielectric alumina (γ and α) packed reactor improved the conversion of CH<sub>4</sub> and C<sub>2</sub> yield. Additionally, the alumina packed reactor shifted the distribution of C<sub>2</sub> compounds towards C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>4</sub> higher than that obtained for the nonpacked reactor and resulted in a higher energy efficiency compared to the BaTiO<sub>3</sub> packed reactor. This is attributed to the small pore size of BaTiO<sub>3</sub> (10−200 nm) and its high dielectric constant, whereas the polarization inside small pores does not lead to the formation of an overall strong electric field.
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