Author(s)

Ismail Rahim^1,2*, Shinfuku Nomura^1*, Shinobu Mukasa¹, Hiromichi Toyota¹, Katsunori Kawanishi¹, Yoshihiko Makiura³, Kazuhiko Kogoh³, Kunihiro Ohshima³, Susumu Katsuen³

¹Department of Engineering for Production and Environment, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ehime University, Ehime, Japan.
²Department of Automotive Engineering Education, State University of Makassar, Makassar, Indonesia.
³KURABO Industries Ltd., Neyagawa, Japan.

Cellulose is a kind of saccharide that is the main component in cell walls of plants and therefore is the organic compound that exists in the largest amount in nature. The purpose of this experiment is to convert cellulose to a fuel. Radio frequency (RF) in-liquid plasma is generated in a cellulose distributed solution and a glucose solution, and the generation gas rate is measured. While hydrogen is the main gas generated by the plasma breakdown, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and low-grade flammable gases are also produced. In the glucose water solution or the glucose distributed solution, the solution itself evaporates and decomposes inside the plasma but since the saccharides are non-volatile, they cannot penetrate into the plasma and are not decomposition. However, when the cellulose is at concentrations of 30 wt% or more, it becomes granular and can directly enter the plasma as a solid, where the plasma decomposes the cellulose itself, significantly increasing the amount of gas generated. In addition, the spectrometry of the plasma emission shows the solution after the creation of plasma has the ability to absorb ultraviolet light.

In-Liquid Plasma, Radio Frequency Plasma, Saccharide, Hydrogen, Decomposition

Rahim, I. , Nomura, S. , Mukasa, S. , Toyota, H. , Kawanishi, K. , Makiura, Y. , Kogoh, K. , Ohshima, K. and Katsuen, S. (2015) Fuel Gas Production from Biomass Sources by Radio Frequency In-Liquid Plasma Method. Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, 3, 28-35. doi: 10.4236/jpee.2015.38004.