CO_(2)methanation boosted by support-size-dependent strong metal-support interaction and B-O-Ti component

Strong metal-support interaction(SMSI)has a great impact on the activity and selectivity of heterogeneous catalysts,which was usually adjusted by changing reduction temperature or processing catalyst in different atmosphere.However,few researches concentrate on modulating SMSI through regulating the structure of the support.Herein,we show how changing the surface environment of the anatase TiO_(2)(B–TiO_(2))can be used to modulate the SMSI.The moderate TiOx overlayer makes the Ni metal highly dispersed on the high specific surface area of support,resulting in a substantially enhanced CO_(2)methanation rate.Besides,a novel phenomenon was observed that boron dopants promote the for-mation of the B–O–Ti interface site,enhancing the catalytic performance of CO_(2)hydrogenation.DFT calculations confirm that the B–O–Ti structure facilitates the activation of CO_(2)and further hydrogenation to methane.

Advances in the studies of the supported ruthenium catalysts for CO_(2) methanation

CO_(2) methanation has a potential in the large-scale utilization of carbon dioxide.It has also been considered to be useful for the renewable energy storage.The commercial pipeline for natural gas transportation can be directly applied for the methane product of CO_(2) methanation.The supported ruthenium(Ru)catalyst has been confirmed to be active and stable for CO_(2) methanation with its high ability in the dissociation of hydrogen and the strong binding of carbon monoxide.CO_(2) methanation over the supported Ru catalyst is structure sensitive.The size of the Ru catalyst and the support have significant effects on the activity and the mechanism.A significant challenge re-mained is the structural controllable preparation of the supported Ru catalyst toward a sufficiently high low-temperature activity.In this review,the recent progresses in the investigations of the supported Ru catalysts for CO_(2) methanation are summarized.The challenges and the future devel-opments are also discussed.

Zonal activation of molecular carbon dioxide and hydrogen over dual sites Ni-Co-MgO catalyst for CO_(2) methanation:Synergistic catalysis of Ni and Co species

An in-depth mechanism in zonal activation of CO_(2)and H2molecular over dual-active sites has not been revealed yet.Here,Ni-Co-MgO was rationally constructed to elucidate the CO_(2)methanation mechanism.The abundant surface nickel and cobalt components as active sites led to strong Ni-Co interaction with charge transfer from nickel to cobalt.Notably,electron-enriched Coδ-species participated in efficient chemisorption and activation of CO_(2)to generate monodentate carbonate.Simultaneously,plentiful available Ni0sites facilitated H2dissociation,thus CO_(2)and H2were smoothly activated at zones of Coδ-species and Ni0,respectively.Detailed in situ DRIFTS,quasi situ XPS,TPSR,and DFT calculations substantiated a new formate evolution mechanism via monodentate carbonate instead of traditional bidentate carbonate based on synergistic catalysis of Coδ-species and Ni0.The zonal activation of CO_(2)and H2by tuning electron behaviors of double-center catalysts can boost heterogeneous catalytic hydrogenation performance.

Highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles on 3D-mesoporous KIT-6 for CO methanation: Effect of promoter species on catalytic performance

Promoter-modified Ni-based catalysts were synthesized by an incipient-wetness impregnation method using 3D-mesoporous KIT-6 as a support modified by ethylene glycol, and evaluated for the catalytic production of synthetic natural gas （SNG） from CO methanation. Characterization results suggested that the addition of promoter species could remarkably improve the low-temperature catalytic activity for CO methanation, which was due to a large dispersion of Ni nanoparticles, an enhanced interaction between metal and support as well as a confinement effect of 3D-mesopores. Among all catalysts, Ni-V/KIT-6 possessed the best catalytic performance, which was ascribed to the largest H2 uptake of 177.6 ^mol/g and Ni dispersion of 26.5%, an intimate interaction with the support from the formation of Si-O-V linkage and an enhanced confinement effect of 3D-mesopores to effectively prevent the growth of Ni nanoparticles and carbon filaments. In consequence, Ni-V/KIT-6 displayed excellent catalytic performance as well as high catalytic stability, which can be regarded as a promising candidate for CO methanation.

Selective CO Methanation over Ru Catalysts Supported on Nanostructured TiO2 with Different Crystalline Phases and Morphology

Nanostructured titanium dioxides were synthesized via various post-treatments of titanate nanofibers obtained from titanium precursors by hydrothermal reactions. The microstructures of TiO2 and supported Ru/TiO2 catalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and nitrogen adsorption isotherms. The phase structure, particle size, morphology, and specific surface area were determined. The supported Ru catalysts were applied for the selective methanation of CO in a hydrogen-rich stream. The results indicated that the Ru catalyst supported on rutile and TiO2-B exhibited higher catalytic performance than the counterpart supported on anatase, which suggested the distinct interaction between Ru nanoparticles and TiO2 resulting from different crystalline phases and morphology.

Methanation of carbon dioxide on Ni/ZrO_2-Al_2O_3 catalysts:Effects of ZrO_2 promoter and preparation method of novel ZrO_2-Al_2O_3 carrier

The novel nickel-based catalysts with a nickel content of 12 wt% were prepared with the zirconia-alumina composite as the supports. The new carriers, ZrO2 improved alumina, were synthesized by three methods, i.e., impregnation-precipitation, co-precipitation, and impregnation method. The catalytic properties of these catalysts were investigated in the methanation of carbon dioxide, and the samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscope （XPS）, temperature-programmed reduction （TPR） and temperature-programmed desorption （TPD） techniques. The new catalysts showed higher catalytic activity and better stability than Ni/γ-Al2O3. Furthermore, as a support for new nickel catalyst, the ZrO2-Al2O3 composite prepared by the impregnation-precipitation method was more efficient than the other supports in the methanation of carbon dioxide. The highly dispersed zirconium oxide on the surface of γ-Al2O3 inhibited the formation of nickel aluminate-like phase, which was responsible for the better dispersion of Ni species and easier reduction of NiO species, leading to the enhanced catalytic performance of corresponding catalyst.

Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts for CO methanation: Effect of Al_2O_3 supports calcined at different temperatures

The correlation between phase structures and surface acidity of Al2O3 supports calcined at different temperatures and the catalytic performance of Ni/Al2O3 catalysts in the production of synthetic natural gas(SNG) via CO methanation was systematically investigated. A series of 10 wt% NiO/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by the conventional impregnation method, and the phase structures and surface acidity of Al2O3 supports were adjusted by calcining the commercial γ-Al2O3 at different temperatures(600–1200 C). CO methanation reaction was carried out in the temperature range of 300–600 C at different weight hourly space velocities(WHSV = 30000 and 120000 mL·g-1h-1) and pressures(0.1 and 3.0 MPa). It was found that high calcination temperature not only led to the growth in Ni particle size, but also weakened the interaction between Ni nanoparticles and Al2O3 supports due to the rapid decrease of the specific surface area and acidity of Al2O3 supports. Interestingly, Ni catalysts supported on Al2O3 calcined at 1200 C(Ni/Al2O3-1200) exhibited the best catalytic activity for CO methanation under different reaction conditions. Lifetime reaction tests also indicated that Ni/Al2O3-1200 was the most active and stable catalyst compared with the other three catalysts, whose supports were calcined at lower temperatures(600, 800 and 1000 C). These findings would therefore be helpful to develop Ni/Al2O3 methanation catalyst for SNG production.

Effect of CeO_2 addition on Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts for methanation of carbon dioxide with hydrogen

The Ni-CeO2/Al2O3 catalysts with a nickel content of 15 wt% prepared via impregnating boehmite were found to be highly active and stable for methanation of carbon dioxide with hydrogen at a H2/CO2 molar ratio of 4. The effects of CeO2 content and reaction temperature on the performance of the Ni-CeO2/Al2O3 catalysts were studied in detail. The results showed that the catalytic performance was strongly dependent on the CeO2 content in Ni-CeO2/Al2O3 catalysts and that the catalysts with 2 wt% CeO2 had the highest catalytic activity among the tested ones at 350 ℃. The XRD and H2-TPR characterizations revealed that the addition of CeO2 decreased the reduction temperature by altering the interaction between Ni and Al2O3, and improved the reducibility of the catalyst. Preliminary stability test of 120 h on stream over the Ni-2CeO2/Al2O3 catalyst at 350 ℃ revealed that the catalyst was much better than the unpromoted one.

Effect of composite supports on the methanation activity of Co-Mo-based sulphur-resistant catalysts

The effects of composite supports of CeO2-Al2O3, MgO-Al2O3, TiO2-Al2O3 or ZrO2-Al2O3 on the methanation activity of supported Co-Mo-based sulphur-resistant catalysts were investigated. The catalysts were further characterized by nitrogen adsorption measurement, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The catalyst of 5%CoO-15%MoO3 supported on CeO2-Al2O3, MgO-Al2O3, TiO2-Al2O3 or ZrO2-Al2O3 composite oxides, respectively, showed different catalytic performances of syngas methanation in the presence of hydrogen sulphide as compared with that of the 5%CoO-15%MoO3/Al2O3 catalyst. The Co-Mo/CeO2-Al2O3 catalyst shows the highest methanation activity among the tested catalysts. The enhanced methanation activity may be attributed to the improvement of the dispersion of active metal species and the inhibition of the formation of S6＋.

Methanation of syngas over coral reef-like Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts

Coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by co-precipitation of nickel acetate and aluminium nitrate with sodium carbonate aqueous solution in the medium of ethylene glycolye.Methanation of syngas was carried out over coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts in a continuous flow type fixed-bed reactor.The structure and properties of the fresh and used catalysts were studied by SEM,N2 adsorption-desorption,XRD,H2-TPR,O2-TPO,TG and ICP-AES techniques.The results showed that the coral reef-like Ni/Al2O3 catalysts exhibited better activity than the conventional Ni/Al2O3-H2O catalysts.The activities of coral reef-like catalysts were in the order of Ni/Al2O3-673Ni/Al2O3-573Ni/Al2O3- 473Ni/Al2O3-773.Ni/Al2O3-673-EG catalyst showed not only good activity and improved stability but also superior resistance to carbon deposition,sintering,and Ni loss.Under the reaction conditions of CO/H2（molar ratio）=1：3,593 K,atmospheric pressure and a GHSV of 2500 h-1,CH4 selectivity was 84.7%,and the CO conversion reached 98.2%.

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.

Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts for syngas methanation: Effect of Mn promoter

Ni/Al2O3 catalysts with different amounts of manganese ranging from 1 to 3 wt% as promoter were prepared by co-impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by N2 physisorption, XRD, TPR, SEM and TEM. Their catalytic activity towards syngas methanation reaction was also investigated using a fixed-bed integral reactor. It was demonstrated that the addition of manganese to Ni/Al2O3 catalysts can increase the catalyst surface area and average pore volume, but decrease NiO crystallite size, leading to higher activity and stability. The effects of reaction temperature, pressure and weight hourly space velocity （WHSV） on carbon oxides conversion and CH4 formation rate were also studied. High carbon oxides conversion, CH4 selectivity and formation rate were achieved at the reaction temperature range of 280 300℃.

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.

Unique catalysis of Ni-Al hydrotalcite derived catalyst in CO_2 methanation: cooperative effect between Ni nanoparticles and a basic support

Ni-Al hydrotalcite derived catalyst （Ni-Al2O3-HT） exhibited a narrow Ni particle-size distribution with an average particle size of 4.0 nm. Methanation of CO2 over this catalyst initiated at 225℃ and reached 82.5% CO2 conversion with 99.5% CH4 selectivity at 350℃, which was much better than its impregnated counterpart. Characterizations by means of CO2 microcalorimetry and 27 Al NMR indicated that large amount of strong basic sites existed on Ni-Al2O3-HT, originated from the formation of Ni-O-Al structure. The existence of strong basic sites facilitated the activation of CO2 and consequently promoted the activity. The combination of highly dispersed Ni with strong basic support led to its unique and high efficiency for this reaction. Keywords

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic methanation performance of modified kaolin-supported Ni-based catalysts

Kaolin as a raw material for mesoporous support was firstly modified by calcination,acid treatment,and then was used to prepare nickel catalysts.The amount of alumina which was activated in kaolin during thermal treatment and then leached out in the acid was different.XRD pattern of the kaolin calcined at 600°C or 900°C exhibited only the diffraction peaks for amorphous silica and quartz while that calcined at 1100°C showed obvious peaks forγ-Al2 O3.Therefore,the nickel-based catalysts exhibited different physic-chemical properties.Atmospheric syngas methanation over the catalysts clarified an activity order of CA-1100 N CA-900 N CA-1400 N CA-600 N KA≈0 at temperatures of 350–650°C and a space velocity of 120 L·g-1·h-1.Metallic nickel with small diameter which has medium interaction with the modified kaolin and is well dispersed on the support would have reasonably good activity and carbon-resistance for syngas methanation.

Ni catalysts supported on nanosheet and nanoplate γ-Al_2O_3 for carbon dioxide methanation

Nanosheet(S) and nanoplate(P) γ-Al_2O_3 were synthesized by simple hydrothermal methods and employed as supports for Ni catalysts in CO_2 methanation.Both of the nanostructured Ni/Al_2O_3 catalysts displayed good activity.In comparison,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst showed higher CO_2 conversion than the Ni/Al_2O_3-P counterpart at the reaction temperature ranging from 250 to 400 °C.The physical and chemical properties of the catalysts were systematically characterized by N2 sorption,X-ray diffraction(XRD),high resolution-transmission electron microscopy(HR-TEM),hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction(H2-TPR) and CO_2 temperature-programmed desorption(CO_2-TPD) techniques.Higher specific surface area and stronger metal-support interactions were confirmed on the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst,which may lead to smaller particle size of Ni nanoparticles.Moreover,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst possessed more abundant weak and medium basic sites,which would benefit the activation of CO_2.The smaller Ni size and more suitable basic sites may rationalize the superior activity of the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst.Besides,the Ni/Al_2O_3-S catalyst exhibited excellent stability at 325 °C for 40 h.

High CO methanation activity on zirconia-supported molybdenum sulfide catalyst

In this study, different methods were used to prepare MoO3/ZrO2 catalysts for sulfur resistant methanation reaction. It was found that MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst prepared by one-step co-precipitation method achieved high methanation performance. CO conversion could reach up to 90% on 25 wt% MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst, much higher than that on the conventional 25 wt% MoO3/Al2O3 catalyst. The Mo-based catalysts were characterized by XRF, XRD, Raman, BET, TEM and H2-TPR etc. It was found that MoO3 particles were highly dispersed on ZrO2 support for 25 wt% MoO3/ZrO2 catalyst prepared at 65-85℃ because of its relatively larger pore size, which contributed to a high CO conversion. Meanwhile, when MoO3 loading exceeded the monolayer coverage, the formed crystalline MoO3 and ZrM020g might block the micropores of the catalyst and make the methanation activity declined. These results are useful for preparing highly efficient catalyst for CO methanation process.

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.

Comparative study of fluidized-bed and fixed-bed reactor for syngas methanation over Ni-W/TiO_2-SiO_2 catalyst

In this work,syngas methanation over Ni-W/TiO2-SiO2catalyst was studied in a fluidized-bed reactor(FBR)and its performance was compared with a fixed-bed reactor(FIXBR).The effects of main operating variables including feedstock gases space velocity,coke content,bed temperature and sulfur-tolerant stability of 100 h life were investigated.The structure of the catalysts was characterized by XRD,N2adsorptiondesorption and TEM.It is found that under same space velocity from 5000 h 1to 25000 h 1FBR gave a higher CH4yield,lower coke content,and lower bed temperature than those obtained in FIXBR.Ni-W/TiO2-SiO2catalyst possessed excellent sulfur-tolerant stability on the feedstock gases less than 500 ppm H2S in FBR.The carbon deposits formed on the spent catalyst were in the form of carbon fibers in FBR,while in the form of dense accumulation distribution appearance in FIXBR.

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%.