Design of experiment analysis of CO$_2$ dielectric barrier discharge conditions on CO production

Dielectric barrier discharges (DBD) are frequently used for the generation of $\mathrm{CO}$ from $\mathrm{CO_2}$ which is of particular interest for syngas production. It has been found by means of fluid modelling in [1] that the $\mathrm{CO_2}$ conversion frequency in a $\mathrm{CO_2}$ DBD depends linearly on the specific energy input (SEI) while the energy efficiency of $\mathrm{CO}$ production is only weakly dependent on the SEI. Here, the same numerical model as in [1] is applied to study systematically the influence of gas pressure, applied voltage amplitude and frequency on the $\mathrm{CO_2}$ conversion frequency and the energy efficiency of CO production based on a 2-level 3-factor full factorial experimental design. It is found that the operating conditions of the $\mathrm{CO_2}$ DBD for $\mathrm{CO}$ production can be chosen to either have an optimal throughput or a better energy efficiency.\\ $[$1$]$ S. Ponduri, et al., \textit{J. Appl. Phys.} \textbf{119} (2016) 093301