Plasma-Based Processes for Improved Energy Efficiency

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last decades, researchers and industries have been able to make use of one of the oldest processes occurring on Earth—plasma processes—for many applications. Plasma technology involves several phenomena, and its description requires a multidisciplinary approach based on physics, chemistry, electricity, etc. The first plasma-based industrial application was developed by Siemens in the 1800s for ozone production. Since then, plasma technology has found many different industrial applications. Surface treatment in the microelectronics industry represents the main use of plasma technology, and it includes the deposition of thin films or etching. Other applications of plasma include lamps, lasers, ozone production, or sterilization of samples in the biomedical field. Analytical spectrochemistry—where sputtered atoms are excited by a plasma and the photons emitted can be measured by optical emission spectrometry—represents another well stablished application of plasma technology. In recent years, plasma technology has also gained attention for the production of chemicals demanding high energy consumption, such as nitrogen fixation, methane reforming and non-oxidative coupling, and CO₂ utilization. In particular, the production of NO_x and NH₃ in containerized units in remote areas is foreseen to be a breakthrough technology for a rapid increase in the wealth of developing countries. The current research in plasma processes is not limited to experimental demonstration. In fact, many works on the modeling and fundamental understanding of these chemical reactions have also recently been presented in the literature.

This Special Issue on “Plasma-Based Processes for Improved Efficiencies” aims at covering recent advances in the development and application of plasma processes from a chemical reaction engineering point of view, and also addressing the main challenges that should be solved to launch this technology to the market. The topics of this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Techno-economic analysis of plasma processes and roadmaps for commercialization;
• Experimental demonstration of novel catalytic and non-catalytic plasma reactors for chemical production;
• Modeling of plasma processes; and
• Plasma reaction mechanisms.

Dr. Jose A. Medrano Jimenez
Prof. Dr. Fausto Gallucci
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Plasma processes
• Plasma reactors
• Techno-economics of plasma processes
• Plasma modeling
• Plasma efficiency