CO removal by two-stage methanation for polymer electrolyte fuel cell

In order to remove CO to achieve lower CO content of below 10 ppm in the CO removal step of reformer for polymer electrolyte fuel cell （PEFC） co-generation systems, CO preferential methanation under various conditions were studied in this paper. Results showed that, with a single kind of catalyst, it was difficult to reach both CO removal depth and CO2 conversion ratio of below 5%. Thus, a two-stage methanation process applying two kinds of catalysts is proposed in this study, that is, one kind of catalyst with relatively low activity and high selectivity for the first stage at higher temperature, and another kind of catalyst with relatively high activity and high selectivity for the second stage at lower temperature. Experimental results showed that at the first stage CO content was decreased from 1% to below 0.1% at 250-300 ℃, and at the second stage to below 10 ppm at 150-185 ℃. CO2 conversion was kept less than 5%, At the same time, influence of inlet CO content and GHSV on CO removal depth was also discussed in this paper.

Removal of CO from reformed fuels by selective methanation over Ni-B-Zr-O_δ catalysts

The Ni-B-Oδ and Ni-B-Zr-Oδ catalysts were prepared by the method of chemical reduction, and the deep removal of CO by selective methanation from the reformed fuels was performed over the as-prepared catalysts. The results showed that zirconium strongly influenced the activity and selectivity of the Ni-B-Zr-Oδ catalysts. Over the Ni-B-Oδ catalyst, the highest CO conversion obtained was only 24.32% under the experi-mental conditions studied. However, over the Ni-B-Zr-Oδ catalysts, the CO methanation conversion was higher than 90% when the temperature was increased to 220℃. Additionally, it was found that the Ni/B mole ratio also affected the performance of the Ni-B-Zr-Oδ catalysts. With the increase of the Ni/B mole ratio from 1.8 to 2.2, the CO methanation activity of the catalyst was improved. But when the Ni/B mole ratio was higher than 2.2, the performance of the catalyst for CO selective methanation decreased instead. Among all the catalysts, the Ni29B13Zr58Oδ catalyst investigated here exhibited the highest catalytic performance for the CO selective methanation, which was capable of reducing the CO outlet concentration to less than 40 ppm from the feed gases stream in the temperature range of 230-250℃, while the CO2 conversion was kept below 8% all along. Characterization of the Ni-B-Oδ and Ni-B-Zr-Oδ catalysts was provided by XRD, SEM, DSC, and XPS.

Selective catalytic methanation of CO in hydrogen-rich gases over Ni/ZrO_2 catalyst

Ni/ZrO2 catalysts were prepared by the incipient-wetness impregnation method and were investigated in activity and selectivity for the selective catalytic methanation of CO in hydrogen-rich gases with more than 20 vol% CO2. The result showed that Ni loadings significantly influenced the performance of Ni/ZrO2 catalyst. The 1.6 wt% Ni loading catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity among all the catalysts in the selective methanation of CO in hydrogen-rich gas. The outlet concentration of CO was less than 20 ppm with the hydrogen consumption below 7%, at a gas-hourly-space velocity as high as 10000 h-1 and a temperature range of 260 °C to 280 °C. The X-ray diffraction （XRD） and temperature programmed reduction （TPR） measurements showed that NiO was dispersed thoroughly on the surface of ZrO2 support if Ni loading was under 1.6 wt%. When Ni loading was increased to 3 wt% or above, the free bulk NiO species began to assemble, which was not favorable to increase the selectivity of the catalyst.

Selective Oxidation of CO in Excess H_2 over Ru/Al_2O_3 Catalysts Modified with Metal Oxide

The Ru/Al2O3 catalysts modified with metal oxide （K20 and La2O3） were prepared v/a incipient wetness impregnation method from RuCl3.nH2O mixed with nitrate loading on Al2O3 support. The activity of catalysts was evaluated under simulative conditions for the preferential oxidation of CO （CO-PROX） from the hydrogen-rich gas streams produced by reforming gas, and the performances of catalysts were investigated by XRD and TPR. The results showed that the activity temperature of the modified catalysts Ru-K20/Al2O3 and Ru-La2O3/Al2O3 were lowered approximately 30℃ compared with pure Ru/Al2O3, and the activity temperature range was widened. The conversion of CO on Ru-K20/Al2O3 and Ru-La2O3/Al2O3 was above 99% at 140-160℃, suitable to remove CO in a hydrogen-rich gas and the selectivity of Ru-La2O3/Al2O3 was higher than that of Ru-K2O/Al2O3in the active temperature range. Slight methanation reaction was detected at 220℃ and above.