Simultaneous Nitrogen Fixation and CO₂ Conversion via Magnetic Field Stabilized Glow Discharge (MSGD)

ABSTRACT A Magnetic Field Stabilized Glow Discharge (MSGD) device is used to perform nitrogen fixation (NF) and CO 2 conversion at atmospheric pressure using N 2 ‐CO 2 and air‐CO 2 gas mixtures. It is found that for N 2 ‐CO 2 and air‐CO 2 gas mixtures, the CO concentration increases with the CO 2 volume fraction, reaching a maximum of 56 198 ppm at 100% CO 2 , and the corresponding energy cost for CO 2 conversion is the lowest at 0.61 MJ/mol, while the energy efficiency of CO 2 conversion reaches its highest at 46.7%. For N 2 ‐CO 2 discharge, the lowest energy cost for NF (11.24 MJ/mol) occurs at a gas ratio of approximately 1:1 (N 2 : CO 2 ), with a NO x concentration of 2968 ppm. For air‐CO 2 discharge, the lowest NF energy cost (2.59 MJ/mol) is achieved with pure air, resulting in a NO x concentration of 12 103 ppm. As the CO 2 volume fraction increases, the NO x concentration decreases while NF energy cost rises. In both discharge scenarios, the overall energy efficiency for combined NF and CO 2 conversion increases with the CO 2 volume fraction. Further analysis reveals that the reduced electric field of the MSGD is approximately 49.6 Td, under which 90% of the electron energy is transferred to the vibrational states of N 2 and CO 2. Consequently, NO in the products is primarily generated through the Zeldovich mechanism, while CO is mainly produced via the vibrational dissociation of CO 2 .