CO selective methanation in hydrogen-rich gas mixtures over carbon nanotube supported Ru-based catalysts

Series of carbon nanotube supported Ru-based catalysts were prepared by impregnation method and applied successfully for complete removal of CO by CO selective methanation from H2-rich gas stream conducted in a fixed-bed quartz tubular reactor at ambient pressure. It was found that the metal promoter, reduction temperature and metal loading affected the catalytic properties significantly. The most excellent performance was presented by 30 wt% Ru-Zr/CNTs catalyst reduced at 350 ℃. Since it decreased CO concentration to below 10 ppm from 12000 ppm by CO selective methanation at the temperature range of 180-240 ℃, and kept CO selectivity higher than 85% at the temperature below 200 ℃. Characterization using XRD, TEM, H2-TPR and XPS suggests that Zr modification of Ru/CNTs results in the weakening of the interaction between Ru and CNTs, a higher Ru dispersion and the oxidization of surface Ru. Amorphous and high dispersed Ru particles with small size were obtained for 30 wt% Ru-Zr/CNTs catalyst reduced at 350 ℃, leading to excellent catalytic performance in CO selective methanation.

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.

Highly selective CO methanation over amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO_2 catalyst

Amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO2 catalyst was prepared by the means of chemical reduction, and selective CO methanation as a strategy for CO removal in fuel processing applications was investigated over the amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO2 catalyst. The result showed that, at the temperature of 210-230 ℃, the catalyst was shown to be capable of reducing CO in a hydrogen-rich reformate to less than 10 ppm, while keeping the CO2 conversion below 1.55% and the hydrogen consumption below 6.50%. ？2009 Xin Fa Dong. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Selective CO methanation over amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO_2 catalyst for hydrogen-rich gas purification

Amorphous Ni-Ru-B/ZrO2 catalysts were prepared by chemical reduction method. The effects of Ni-Ru-B loading and Ru/Ni mole ratio on the catalytic performance for selective CO methanation from reformed fuel were studied, and the catalysts were characterized by BET, ICP, XRD and TPD. The results showed that Ru strongly affected the catalytic activity and selectivity by increasing the thermal stability of amorphous structure, promoting the dispersion of the catalyst particle, and intensifying the CO adsorption. For the catalysts with Ru/Ni mole ratio under 0.15, the CO methanation conversion and selectivity increased significantly with the increasing Ru/Ni mole ratio. Among all the catalysts investigated, the 30 wt% Ni-Ru-B loading amorphous Ni61Ru9B30/ZrO2 catalyst with 0.15 Ru/Ni mole ratio presented the best catalytic performance, over which higher than 99.9% of CO conversion was obtained in the temperature range of 230℃-250℃, and the CO2 conversion was kept under the level of 0.9%.

Preparation and characterization of Ce_(1-x)Fe_xO_2 complex oxides and its catalytic activity for methane selective oxidation

A series of Ce1-xFexO2 （x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1） complex oxide catalysts were prepared using the coprecipitation method. The catalysts were characterized by means of XRD and H2-TPR. The reactions between methane and lattice oxygen from the complex oxides were investigated. The characteristic results revealed that the combination of Ce and Fe oxide in the catalysts could lower the temperature necessary to reduce the cerium oxide. The catalytic activity for selective CH4 oxidation was strongly influenced by dropped Fe species. Adding the appropriate amount of Fe2O3 to CeO2 could promote the action between CH4 and CeO2. Dispersed Fe2O3 first returned to the original state and would then virtually form the Fe species on the catalyst, which could be considered as the active site for selective CH4 oxidation. The appearance of carbon formation was significant and the oxidation of carbon appeared to be the rate-determining step; the amounts of surface reducible oxygen species in CeO2 were also relevant to the activity. Among all the catalysts, Ce0.6Fe0.402 exhibited the best activity, which converted 94.52% of CH4 at 900 ℃.

High-rate CH_(4)-to-C_(2)H_(6) photoconversion enabled by Au/ZnO porous nanosheets under oxygen-free system

Photocatalytic CH_(4) coupling into high-valued C_(2)H_(6) is highly attractive,whereas the photosynthetic rate,especially under oxygen-free system,is still unsatisfying.Here,we designed the negatively charged metal supported on metal oxide nanosheets to activate the inert C-H bond in CH_(4)and hence accelerate CH_(4) coupling performance.As an example,the synthetic Au/ZnO porous nanosheets exhibit the C_(2)H_(6) photosynthetic rate of 1,121.6μmol g^(-1)_(cat)h^(-1)and the CH_(4) conversion rate of 2,374.6μmol g^(-1)_(cat)h^(-1) under oxygen-free system,2 orders of magnitude higher than those of previously reported photocatalysts.By virtue of several in situ spectroscopic techniques,it is established that the generated Au^(δ-)and O^-species together polarized the C-H bond,while the Au^(δ-)and O^-species jointly stabilized the CH_(3) intermediates,which favored the coupling of CH_(3) intermediate to photosynthesize C_(2)H_(6) instead of overoxidation into CO_(x).Thus,the design of dual active species is beneficial for achieving high-efficient CH_(4)-to-C_(2)H_(6) photoconversion.

Surface composition change of chlorine-doped catalyst Ni(Clx)/CeO2 in methanation reaction

The oxide sample NiO/CeO_2 with feed atomic ratio of Ni/Ce at 40%, prepared by co-precipitation method and calcination at 500 oC for 2 h, was impregnated by aqueous solution of NH_4Cl to dope chlorine ions. After the impregnated samples were dried and calcined at 400 oC for 2 h, the calcined samples NiO（Cl_x）/CeO_2（x=0.1–0.5） were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction（XRD） and temperature programmed reduction（TPR） techniques. It was comfirmed that the doped chlorine ions hindered reduction of Ni^（2＋） ions in the calcined samples, and suppressed adsorption of CO_2 and CO on the reduced sample Ni（Cl_（0.3））/CeO_2. The reduced samples Ni（Cl_x）/CeO_2（x=0.0–0.5） were used as catalysts for selective methanation of CO in H_2-rich gas. When chlorine ions were doped at the feed atomic ratio of Cl/Ce（x） equal to 0.3–0.5, CO in the H_2-rich gas could be removed to below 10 ppm with a high selectivity more than 50% in a wide reaction temperature range of 220–280 oC. However, the selectivity of CO methanation decreased with reaction time in the durability tests over the catalyst Ni（Cl_（0.3））/CeO_2 at the reaction temperature of 260 oC and even at 220 oC. The lowering of the selectivity was found to be related with the surface composition change of the catalyst in the catalytic reaction.

Preparation and characterization of Ce_(1-x)Ni_xO_2 as oxygen carrier for selective oxidation methane to syngas in absence of gaseous oxygen

A citric acid complex method was employed to prepare Ce/Ni mixed oxides with various Ce/Ni ratios useful for selective oxidation methane to syngas in the absence of gaseous oxygen,and the catalytic activity measurement was investigated in a fixed bed reactor at 800 oC.The prepared oxygen carriers were characterized by various characterization techniques such as TG-DSC,XRD and TPR.The results of TG-DSC indicated that the Ce1-xNixO2 precursor generated a stable phase after the heat-treatment at temperatures above 800 oC.The XRD characterization suggested that some Ce-Ni solid solution was formed when Ni2+ ions was incorporated into the lattice of CeO2,and it led to the generation of O-vacancy which could improve the oxygen mobility in the lattice of oxygen carriers.It was found that Ce0.8Ni0.2O2 gave the highest activity in the selective oxidation methane to syngas reaction,and the average methane conversion,CO and H2 selectivity reached to 82.31%,82.41% and 87.64%,respectively.The reason could be not only attributed to the fitting amount of NiO dispersed on the CeO2 surface and bulk but also to actual lattice oxygen amount increased in oxygen carrier.

Chemical interaction of Ce-Fe mixed oxides for methane selective oxidation

Chemical interaction of Ce-Fe mixed oxides was investigated in methane selective oxidation via methane temperature programmed reduction and methane isothermal reaction tests over Ce-Fe oxygen carriers. In methane temperature programmed reduction test, Ce-Fe oxide behaved complete oxidation at the lower temperature and selective oxidation at higher temperatures. Ce-Fe mixed oxides with the Fe content in the range of 0.1~）.5 was able to produce syngas with high selectivity in high-temperature range （800-900 ~C）, and a higher Fe amount over 0.5 seemed to depress the CO formation. In isothermal reaction, complete oxidation oc- curred at beginning following with selective oxidation later. Ce~_xFexO2~ oxygen carriers （x5_0.5） were proved to be suitable for the selective oxidation of methane. Ce-Fe mixed oxides had the well-pleasing reducibility with high oxygen releasing rate and CO selec- tivity due to the interaction between Ce and Fe species. Strong chemical interaction of Ce-Fe mixed oxides originated from both Fe＊ activated CeO2 and Ce3＋ activated iron oxides （FeOm）, and those chemical interaction greatly enhanced the oxygen mobility and selectivity.

Selective oxidation of methane and carbon deposition over Fe_2O_3/Ce_(1-x)Zr_xO_2 oxides

A series of Fe2O3/Al2O3, Fe2O3/CeO2, Ce0.7Zr0.3O2, and Fe2O3/Ce1-xZrxO2（x = 0.1–0.4） oxides was prepared and their physicochemical features were investigated by X-ray diffraction（XRD）, transmission electron microscope（TEM）, and H2-temperature-programmed reduction（H2-TPR） techniques. The gas–solid reactions between these oxides and methane for syngas generation as well as the catalytic performance for selective oxidation of carbon deposition in O2-enriched atmosphere were investigated in detail. The results show that the samples with the presence of Fe2O3show much higher activity for methane oxidation compared with the Ce0.7Zr0.3O2solid solution,while the CeO2-contained samples represent higher CO selectively in methane oxidation than the Fe2O3/Al2O3sample. This suggests that the iron species should be the active sites for methane activation, and the cerium oxides provide the oxygen source for the selective oxidation of the activated methane to syngas during the reaction between methane and Fe2O3/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2. For the oxidation process of the carbon deposition, the CeO2-containing samples show much higher CO selectivity than the Fe2O3/Al2O3sample, which indicates that the cerium species should play a very important role in catalyzing the carbon selective oxidation to CO. The presence of the Ce–Zr–O solid solution could induce the growth direction of the carbonfilament, resulting in a loose contact between the carbon filament and the catalyst. This results in abundant exposed active sites for catalyzing carbon oxidation, strongly improving the oxidation rate of the carbon deposition over this sample. In addition, the Fe2O3/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2also represents much higher selectivity（ca. 97 %） for the conversion of carbon to CO than the Fe2O3/CeO2sample, which can be attributed to the higher concentration of reduced cerium sites on this sample. The increase of the Zr content in the Fe2O3/Ce1-xZrxO2samples could improve the reactivity of the materials for methane oxidation, but it also reduces the selectivity for CO formation.

Ceria supported nickel catalysts for CO removal from H_2-rich gas

CO in H2-rich gas must be removed to meet various requirements in industrial applications. Four methods, i.e., the precipitation method using aqueous ammonia, the complexing method using urea, the complexing method using citric acid and the precipitation method using ammonium carbonate, were adopted to prepare samples NiO/CeO2 as catalyst precursors for removal of CO from H2-rich gas via selective methanation reaction. The sample NiO/CeO2 prepared by the precipitation method using aqueous ammonia as precipitant exhibited the highest catalytic activity both for CO methanation and for CO2 methanation after reduction prior to the catalytic reaction. Chlorine ion was then doped to suppress CO2 conversion. Effect of chlorine doping was investigated. Over the optimal catalyst 40%Ni（Cl（0.2））/CeO2, CO in the H2-rich gas was removed to below 10 ppm with selectivity of 60% or higher at reaction temperatures 230–250 ℃ in the test period of 75 h.