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The utilization of in-situ resource on Mars is currently one of the key research focuses in deep space exploration. Non-thermal plasma technology provides a promising approach for in-situ conversion of high-concentration CO2 in the Martian atmosphere, with advantages such as strong environmental adaptability and high system efficiency. In this study, a coaxial packed-bed dielectric barrier discharge reactor is employed to investigate the discharge characteristics of simulated Martian atmospheric CO2, with particular emphasis on the effects of SiO2 and Al2O3 packing materials on CO2 conversion performance and energy consumption. Through in-situ spectral diagnostics, the variation patterns of characteristic spectral lines of excited-state CO2 and O2 under different operating conditions are investigated in this work. It is found that increasing the discharge power promotes the generation of excited-state reactive species, which facilitates the activation and conversion of carbon dioxide. Furthermore, increasing the discharge power effectively enhances the electric field strength in CO2 discharge. Compared with plasma only and the use of SiO2 packing material, the system exhibits a more significant electric field enhancement effect when packed with Al2O3 beads. Based on numerical simulations, the electron impact reaction rate constant and electron energy distribution function of CO2 discharge are obtained. The results reveal that packing the discharge gap with Al2O3 material significantly changes the physical characteristics of CO2 discharge, enhances both the electric field strength and the mean electron energy, thereby generating more high-energy electrons and asymmetric vibrational excited states of CO2. This ultimately promotes the CO2 decomposition reaction for oxygen production. Finally, the study examines the effectiveness of CO2 decomposition for oxygen production under various typical operating conditions. It is demonstrated that increasing the discharge power and packing with Al2O3 both contribute to improving the CO2 conversion rate and oxygen production rate, while reducing the energy consumption of the reaction. The introduction of Al2O3 packing enhances the electric field strength, thereby improving CO2 conversion and O2 production, achieving a CO2 conversion rate of 12.18% and a minimum energy consumption of 0.36 kWh/g. This study provides theoretical and experimental support for the future applications of non-thermal plasma technology in the in-situ resource utilization of Martian atmosphere, offering insights into sustainable resource utilization in deep space exploration.
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Keywords:
- Martian atmosphere /
- CO2 conversion /
- discharge characteristics /
- dielectric barrier discharge
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图 1 等离子体火星CO2转化系统示意图
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the plasma-based Mars CO2 conversion system.
图 2 介质阻挡放电的典型李萨如图形
Figure 2. Typical Q-U Lissajous figure of the DBD.
图 3 不同填充状态下的CO2放电波形图 (a) 空管; (b) 填充SiO2; (c) 填充Al2O3
Figure 3. The electrical signals of different filling states: (a) Plasma only; (b) packed with SiO2; (c) packed with Al2O3.
图 4 填充Al2O3情况下的CO2介质阻挡放电发射光谱图
Figure 4. Emission spectrum of CO2 DBD packed with Al2O3.
图 5 不同填充状态下放电功率对(a) CO2 (391 nm)和(b) O2 (386 nm)谱线相对强度的影响
Figure 5. Effect of discharge power on the relative intensities of (a) CO2 (391 nm) and (b) O2 (386 nm) using different packing materials.
图 6 不同填充状态下放电功率对约化场强的影响
Figure 6. The reduced electric field as a function of discharge power using different packing materials.
图 7 不同工况下约化场强对平均电子能量的影响(彩色区域表示本研究中的约化场强范围)
Figure 7. Calculated mean electron energy as a function of the reduced electric field (the coloured area illustrates the range of the reduced electric field in this study).
图 8 不同工况下放电功率对平均电子能量的影响
Figure 8. Calculated mean electron energy as a function of discharge power.
图 9 平均电子能量对不同CO2反应路径的反应速率常数的影响(彩色区域表示本研究中的平均电子能量范围)
Figure 9. The rate coefficients of different CO2 reaction channels as a function of the mean electron energy (the coloured area illustrates the range of the mean electron energy in this study).
图 10 不同填充状态下放电功率对(a)二氧化碳转化率, (b)制氧速率和(c)反应能耗的影响
Figure 10. The effect of discharge power under different filling states: (a) CO2 conversion; (b) O2 production rate; (c) energy consumption.
图 A1 在(a)空管; (b)填充SiO2; (c)填充Al2O3的工况下放电功率对部分激发态特征谱线相对强度的影响
Figure A1. Effect of discharge power on the relative intensities of excited species using different packing materials: (a) Plasma only; (b) SiO2; (c) Al2O3.
表 1 不同填充状态下放电功率对平均电场强度的影响
Table 1. Effect of packing materials on the average electric field at different discharge powers.
放电功率/W 平均电场强度 (kV·cm–1) 空管 SiO2 Al2O3 10 1.32 1.40 1.55 12.5 1.46 1.48 1.72 15 1.53 1.61 1.79 17.5 1.68 1.74 1.95 20 1.82 1.88 2.11 
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表 A1 数值模拟中的二氧化碳活性粒子的种类及参数
Table A1. Types and parameters of carbon dioxide reactive species in numerical simulations.
活性粒子
种类物理意义描述 能量/eV 振动
激发态CO2 (0 1 0) 0.083 CO2 (0 2 0) 0.167 CO2 (1 0 0) 0.167 CO2 (0 3 0) + (1 1 0) 0.252 CO2 (0 0 1) 0.291 CO2 (0 4 0) + (1 2 0) + (0 1 1) 0.339 CO2 (2 0 0) 0.339 CO2 (0 5 0) + (2 1 0) + (1 3 0) +
(0 2 1) + (1 0 1)0.422 CO2 (3 0 0) 0.5 CO2 (0 6 0) + (2 2 0) + (1 4 0) 0.505 CO2 (0 n 0) + (n 0 0) 2.5 电子式
激发态CO2 (e1) 7.0 CO2 (e2) 10.5 离子 CO2+ 13.8
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