Additive effects of alkaline-earth metals and nickel on the performance of Co/γ-Al_2O_3 in methane catalytic partial oxidation

Nano-sized γ-alumina （γ-Al2O3） was first prepared by a precipitation method. Then, active component of cobalt and a series of alkaline- earth metal promoters or nickel （Ni） with different contents were loaded on the γ-Al2O3 support. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and thermogravimetry analysis （TGA）. The activity and selectivity of the catalysts in catalytic partial oxidation （CPO） of methane have been compared with Co/γ-Al2O3, and it is found that the catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability are enhanced by the addition of alkaline-earth metals and nickel. The optimal loadings of strontium （Sr） and Ni were 6 and 4 wt%, respectively. This finding will be helpful in designing the trimetallic Co-Ni-Sr/γ-Al2O3 catalysts with high performance in CPO of methane

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane over Ni/CeO_2-ZrO_2-Al_2O_3

Nickel catalysts supported on CeO2-ZrO2-CeO2,ZrO2-Al2O3 and Al2O3 were prepared and characterized by means of X-ray diffraction（XRD）,BET areas,H2 temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR）,and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）.Through the test of catalytic partial oxidation of methane（CPOM）,Ni/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 displayed the highest activity,which resulted from its largest BET area and best NiO dispersion.Furthermore,Ni/CeO2-ZrO2-Al2O3 maintained a long-time stability in CPOM,which was attributed to its best coking resistance among all the prepared catalysts.

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane with Air to Syngas in a Pilot-Plant-Scale Spouted Bed Reactor

On the basis of hydrodynamic and scaling-up studies, a pilot-plant-scale thermal spouted bed reactor (50 mm in ID and 1500 mm in height) was designed and fabricated by scaling-down cold simulators. It was tested for making syngas via catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of methane by air. The effects of various operating conditions such as operating pressure and temperature, feed composition, and gas flowrate etc. on the CPO process were investigated. CH4 conversion of 92.2% and selectivity of 92.3% and 83.3% to CO and H2, respectively, were achieved at the pressure of 2.1 MPa. It was found that when the spouted bed reactor was operated within the stable spouting flow regime, the temperature profiles along the bed axis were much more uniform than those operated within the fixed-bed regime. The CH4 conversion and syngas selectivity were found to be close to thermodynamic equilibrium limits. The results of the present investigation showed that spouted bed could be considered as a potential type of chemical reactor for the CPO process of methane.

Microreactor for the Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane

Fixed-bed reactors for the partial oxidation of methane to produce synthetic gas still pose hotspot problems. An alternative reactor, which is known as the shell-and-tube-typed microreactor, has been developed to resolve these problems. The microreactor consists of a 1 cm outside-diameter, 0.8 cm insidediameter and 11 cm length tube, and a 1.8 cm inside-diameter shell. The tube is made of dense alumina and the shell is made of quartz. Two different methods dip and spray coating were performed to line the tube side with the LaNixOy catalyst. Combustion and reforming reactions take place simultaneously in this reactor. Methane is oxidized in the tube side to produce flue gases （CO2 and H2O） which flow counter-currently and react with the remaining methane in the shell side to yield synthesis gas. The methane conversion using the higher-loading catalyst spray-coated tube reaches 97% at 700 ℃, whereas that using the lower-loading catalyst dip-coated tube reaches only 7.78% because of poor adhesion between the catalyst film and the alumina support. The turnover frequencies （TOFs） using the catalyst spray-and dip-coated tubes are 5.75×10^-5 and 2.24×10^-5 mol/gcat· s, respectively. The catalyst spray-coated at 900 ℃ provides better performance than that at 1250 ℃ because sintering reduces the surface-area. The hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio produced by the spray-coated catalyst is greater than the stoichiometric ratio, which is caused by carbon deposition through methane cracking or the Boudouard reaction.

Novel Ni/CeO_2-Al_2O_3 composite catalysts synthesized by one-step citric acid complex and their performance in catalytic partial oxidation of methane

A series of novel Ni/CeOe-Al2O3 composite catalysts were synthesized by one-step citric acid complex method, The as-synthesized catalysts were characterized by N2 physical adsorption/desorption, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Fourier transform infrared （FT-IR） spectroscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction （Hz-TPR）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） and thermogravimetry analysis （TGA）. The effects of nickel content, calcination and reaction temperatures, gas hourly space velocity （GHSV） and inert gas dilution of N2 on their performance of catalytic partial oxidation of methane （CPOM） were investigated. Catalytic activity test results show that the highest methane conversion （〉85%）, the best selectivities to carbon monoxide （〉87%） and to hydrogen （〉95%）, the excellent stability and perfect Hz/CO ratio （2.0） can be obtained over Ni/CeO2-Al2O3 with 8 wt% Ni content calcined at 700 ℃ under the reaction condition of 750 ℃, CH4/O2 ratio of 2 ： 1 and gas hourly space velocity of 12000 mL.h-1 .g-1. Characterization results show that the good catalytic performance of this composite catalyst can be contributed to its large specific surface area （~108 m2.g-1）, small crystallite size, easy reducibility and low coking rate.

Modeling of microreactor for syngas production by catalytic partial oxidation of methane

Fixed-bed reactors for the catalytic partial oxidation of methane （CPOM） to produce synthesis gas still pose hot spots problems.Microreactor is a good alternative reactor proposed to resolve these problems.In this paper,synthesis gas （hydrogen and carbon monoxide） production was investigated by a two-dimensional numerical model of single microchannel.Computational fluid dynamic （CFD） modeling with detailed chemistry was conducted to understand the CPOM on platinum （Pt） catalyst.Gas inlet velocity,microchannel pressure,and fuel to air ratio （F/A） are selected as the effective parameters on microchannel performance.Study results show that Reynolds number has considerable effect on methane conversion,hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio （H2/CO）,and product distribution.Increasing gas inlet velocity causes all the above parameters to decrease.It is noted that increasing microchannel pressure and decreasing the ratio of fuel to air cause the decrease of the H2/CO ratio.

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Biomass/Oil Mixture

Investigation was focussed to application of waste POX （partial oxidation）, e.g., meal rape in form of suspension in high boiling hydrocarbons from crude oil distillation. There is an opportunity for utilization of biomass waste resulted from fuels bio-components production. A decrease of oxygen and water steam demand in feed for POX process was observed in this variant. Catalytic effect of iron nanoparticles or nickel nitrate as catalysts in improvement of the pilot plant biomass/oil partial oxidation was investigated as well. Presence of catalyst in the feed supports formation of carbon monoxide and suppression content of methane in the gas product. Experimental data were well compared with process simulation based on eauilibrium reactor model.

Partial oxidation of methane over SiO2 supported Ni and NiCe catalysts

Nickel and nickel-ceria catalysts supported on high surface area silica, with 6 wt% Ni and 20 wt% CeO2 were prepared by microwave assisted(co) precipitation method. The catalysts were investigated by XRD,TPR and XPS analyses and they were tested in partial oxidation of methane(CPO). The catalytic reaction was carried out at atmospheric pressure in a temperature range of 400–800℃ with a feed gas mixture containing methane and oxygen in a molecular ratio CH4/O2=2. The Ni catalyst exhibited 60% methane conversion with 60% selectivity to CO already at 500℃. On the contrary, the Ni–Ce catalyst was inert to CPO up to 700℃. Moreover, the former catalyst reproduced its activity at the descending temperatures maintaining a good stability at 600℃, over a reaction time of 80 h, whereas the latter one completely deactivated. Test of CH4 temperature programmed surface reaction(CH4-TPSR) revealed a higher methane activation temperature(> 100℃) for the Ni–Ce catalyst as compared to the Ni one. Noticeable improvement of the ceria containing catalyst occurred when the reaction test started at a temperature higher than the methane decomposition temperature. In this case, the sample achieved the same catalytic behavior of the Ni catalyst. As confirmed by XPS analyses, the distinct electronic state of the supported nickel was responsible for the differences in catalytic behavior.

Recent Progress in Direct Partial Oxidation of Methane to Methanol

The direct conversion of methane to methanol has attracted a great deal ofattention for nearly a century since it was first found possible in 1902, and it is still achallenging task. This review article describes recent advancements in the direct partial oxidationof methane to methanol. The history of direct oxidation of methane and the difficulties encounteredin the partial oxidation of methane to methanol are briefly summarized. Recently reporteddevelopments in gas-phase homogeneous oxidation, heterogeneous catalytic oxidation and liquid phasehomogeneous catalytic oxidation of methane are reviewed.

Partial oxidation of methane to syngas catalyzed by a nickel nanowire catalyst

A nickel nanowire catalyst was prepared by a hard template method, and characterized by transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, N2 physical adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectrometry （XPS）, X-ray diffraction （XRD） and H2 temperature-programmed reduction （H2-TPR）. The catalytic properties of the nanowire catalyst in the partial oxidation of methane to syngas were compared with a metallic Ni catalyst which was prepared with nickel sponge. The characterization results showed that the nickel nanowire catalyst had high specific surface area and there was more NiO phase in the nickel nanowire catalyst than in the metallic Ni catalyst. The reaction results showed that the nickel nanowire catalyst had high CH4 conversion and selectivities for H2 and CO under low space velocity.

Yttria promoted metallic nickel catalysts for the partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas

A metallic Ni catalyst was prepared with nickel sponge, followed by acid treatment. It was further promoted with yttria by an impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by SEM, BET, XRD, TPR, XPS, etc., and studied in the partial oxidation of methane to syngas. The characterization results showed that the yttria promoted metallic Ni catalysts had high specific surface area and more NiO. The reaction results showed that the yttria promoter increased the CH4 conversion and the selectivity for H2 and CO.

Modeling of high-temperature reforming reactor based on interactive thermal control with a tail gas combustor

This paper proposes a method to model hydrocarbon reforming by coupling detailed chemical kinetics with complex computational fluid dynamics. The entire chemistry of catalyzed reactions was confined within the geometrically simple channels and modeled using the low-dimensional plug model, into which the interactive thermal control of the multi-channel reforming reactor has been implemented with a tail-gas combustor around the external surface of these catalytic channels. The geomet- rically complex flow in the tail gas combustor was simu- lated using FLUENT without involving any chemical reactions. The influences of the conditions at the reactor inlet such as the inlet gas velocity, the inlet gas composi- tion and the variety of hydrocarbons of each channel on gas conversions were investigated numerically. The impact of the tail gas combustor setup on the efficiency of the reforming reactor was also analyzed. Methane catalytic partial oxidation （CPOx） and propane steam reforming （SR） were used to illustrate the approach reported in the present work.