  The plasma-chemical process of producing hydrogen from propane under the
excitation by laser radiation has been studied. The study was carried out using
femtosecond (35 fs) and nanosecond (7 ns) pulsed laser radiation sources.
Experimental dependences of the volumetric hydrogen content in the gas mixture
at the outlet of the reactor were measured depending on the propane supply
rate. Equations have been proposed that describe the amount of hydrogen
produced, taking into account the propane supply rate and the effect of its
mixing with the resulting hydrogen. The resulting equations can be applied to
the plasma-chemical decomposition of other hydrocarbons. Their application to
experimentally studied processes made it possible to calculate the maximum
possible efficiency of hydrogen production for the given characteristics of
laser radiation. The results obtained made it possible to give recommendations
on changing the parameters of laser radiation in order to increase the
efficiency of the plasma-chemical process.
