Advances of study on atmospheric methane oxidation (consumption) in forest soil

Next to CO2, methane (CH4) is the second important contributor to global warming in the atmosphere and global atmospheric CH4 budget depends on both CH4 sources and sinks. Unsaturated soil is known as a unique sink for atmospheric CH4 in terrestrial ecosystem. Many comparison studies proved that forest soil had the biggest capacity of oxidizing atmospheric CH4 in various unsaturated soils. However, up to now, there is not an overall review in the aspect of atmospheric CH4 oxidation (consumption) in forest soil. This paper analyzed advances of studies on the mechanism of atmospheric CH4 oxidation, and re-lated natural factors (Soil physical and chemical characters, temperature and moisture, ambient main greenhouse gases con-centrations, tree species, and forest fire) and anthropogenic factors (forest clear-cutting and thinning, fertilization, exogenous aluminum salts and atmospheric deposition, adding biocides, and switch of forest land use) in forest soils. It was believed that CH4 consumption rate by forest soil was limited by diffusion and sensitive to changes in water status and temperature of soil. CH4 oxidation was also particularly sensitive to soil C/N, Ambient CO2, CH4 and N2O concentrations, tree species and forest fire. In most cases, anthropogenic disturbances will decrease atmospheric CH4 oxidation, thus resulting in the elevating of atmos-pheric CH4. Finally, the author pointed out that our knowledge of atmospheric CH4 oxidation (consumption) in forest soil was insufficient. In order to evaluate the contribution of forest soils to atmospheric CH4 oxidation and the role of forest played in the process of global environmental change, and to forecast the trends of global warming exactly, more researchers need to studies further on CH4 oxidation in various forest soils of different areas.

Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizer,Soil Moisture and Temperature on Methane Oxidation in Paddy Soil

Effects of nitrogen fertilizer,soil moisture and temperature on methane oxidation in paddy soil were investigated under laboratory conditions. Addition of 0.05 g N kg-1 soil as NH4Cl strongly inhibited methane oxidation and addition of the same rate of KCl also inhibited the oxidation but with more slight effect,suggesting that the inhibitory effect was partly caused by increase in osmotic potential in microorganism cell.Not only NH but also NO greatly affected methane oxidation.Urea did not affect methane oxidation in paddy soil in the first two days of incubation,but strong inhibitory effect was observed afterwards.Methane was oxidized in the treated soil with an optimum moisture of 280 g kg-1, and air-drying inhibited methane oxidation entirely.The optimum temperature of methane oxidation was about 30℃in paddy soil,while no methane oxidation was observed at 5℃or 50℃

Simulation of Methane Oxidation by Paddy Soils in a Closed System

Methane oxidation by paddy soils in a closed system could be simulsted by the equation where xo and x are the CH4 concentrations at time zero and t, respectively; k1 and k2 are constants related to the constant of first-order-kinetics. According to the equation the change of soil ability to oxidize CH4 could be estimated by the equstion The results showed that the soil ability to oxidize CH4 varied, depending on the initial CH4 concentration.High initial CH4 concentration stimulated soil ability to consume CH4, while low concentration depressed the ability. This characteristic of paddy soil seemed to be of considerable significance to self-adjusting CH4 emission from flooded rice fields if there exist oxic microsites in the soil.

A review of the direct oxidation of methane to methanol

This article briefly reviewed the advances in the process of the direct oxidation of methane to methanol （DMTM） with both heterogeneous and homogeneous oxidation. Attention was paid to the conversion of methane by the heterogeneous oxidation process with various transition metal ox‐ides. The most widely studied catalysts are based on molybdenum and iron. For the homogeneous gas phase oxidation, several process control parameters were discussed. Reactor design has the most crucial role in determining its commercialization. Compared to the above two systems, aque‐ous homogenous oxidation is an efficient route to get a higher yield of methanol. However, the cor‐rosive medium in this method and its serious environmental pollution hinder its widespread use. The key challenge to the industrial application is to find a green medium and highly efficient cata‐lysts.

Nitrous Oxide and Methane Emissions as Affected by Water,Soil and Nitrogen

Specific management of water regimes, soil and N in China might play an important role in regulating N2O and CH4 emissions in rice fields. Nitrous oxide and methane emissions from alternate non-flooded/flooded paddies were monitored simultaneously during a 516-day incubation with lysimeter experiments. Two N sources (15N-(NH4)2SO4 and 15N-labeled milk vetch) were applied to two contrasting paddies: one derived from Xiashu loess (Loess) and one from Quaternary red clay (Clay). Both N2O and CH4 emissions were significantly higher in soil Clay than in soil Loess during the flooded period. For both soil, N2O emissions peaked at the transition periods shortly after the beginning of the flooded and non-flooded seasons. Soil type affected N2O emission patterns. In soil Clay, the emission peak during the transition period from non-flooded to flooded conditions was much higher than the peak during the transition period from flooded to non-flooded conditions. In soil Loess, the emission peak during the transition period from flooded to non-flooded conditions was obviously higher than the peak during the transition period from non-flooded to flooded conditions except for milk vetch treatment. Soil type also had a significant effect on CH4 emissions during the flooded season, over which the weighted average flux was 111 mg C m-2 h-1 and 2.2 mg C m-2 h-1 from Clay and Loess, respectively. Results indicated that it was the transition in the water regime that dominated N2O emissions while it was the soil type that dominated CH4 emissions during the flooded season. Anaerobic oxidation of methane possibly existed in soil Loess during the flooded season.

Low-temperature utilization of CO_2 and CH_4 by combining partial oxidation with reforming of methane over Ru-based catalysts

Combination of partial oxidation of methane （POM） with carbon dioxide reforming of methane （CRM） has been studied over Ru-based catalysts at 550℃.POM,CRM and combined reaction were performed over 8wt%Ru/γ-Al2O 3 and the results show that both POM and CRM contribute to the combined reaction,between which POM plays a more important role.Moreover,the addition of Ce to Ru-based catalyst results in an improvement in the activity and CO selectivity under the adopted reaction conditions.The Ce-doped catalyst was characterized by N2 adsorption-desorption,SEM,XRD,TPR,XPS and in situ DRIFTS.The mechanism has been studied by in situ DRIFTS together with the temperature distribution of catalyst bed.The mechanism of the combined reaction is more complicated and it is the combination of POM and CRM mechanisms in nature.The present paper provides a new catalytic system to activate CH4 and CO2 at a rather low temperature.

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

Effect of Cu promoter on Ni-based SBA-15 catalysts for partial oxidation of methane to syngas

A series of Ni/SBA-15 catalysts with 5wt% to 15wt% Ni content as well as a series of 12.5%Ni/Cu/SBA-15 catalysts with 1% to 10% copper content were prepared by the impregnation method. The catalytic performance for partial oxidation of methane was investigated in a continuous flow microreactor under atmospheric pressure. The textural and chemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, BET and Hz-TPR techniques. The results indicated that the catalysts modified with Cu promoter showed better performance than those without modification. For the 12.5%Ni/2.5%/Cu/SBA-15 catalyst, at 850 ℃ the conversion of CH4 reached 97.9% and the selectivity of CO and H2 reached 98.0% and 96.0%, respectively. In XRD patterns of the Ni/Cu/SBA-15 catalyst with 7.5 to 10% Cu contents there were CuO characteristic peaks beside NiO characteristic peaks. The mesoporous structure of SBA-15 was retained in all of the catalysts. TPR analysis of the catalysts revealed that a strong interaction between Ni, Cu promoter and SBA-15 support may be existed. This interaction enhanced significantly the redox properties of the catalysts resulting in the higher catalytic activity.

Effect of CeO_2 and CaO Promoters on Ignition Performance for Partial Oxidation of Methane over Ni/MgO-Al_2O_3 Catalyst

The effect of CeO2 and CaO promoters on the ignition performance over Ni/MgO-Al2O3 catalyst for the partial oxidation of methane （POM） to synthesis gas was investigated. It was found that the POM reaction could not be ignited over lwt%Ni/MgO-Al2O3 catalyst without the promoters in the temperature range from 773 K to 1073 K. CeO2 and CaO promoters enhanced the ignition performance and the POM reactivity of lwt%Ni/MgO-Al2O3 catalyst remarkably. Moreover, the improving effect became greater with the increase of the promoter content under the investigated reactiorrconditions. The modification effects of CeO2 and CaO promoters were closely related to the concentration and reducibility of the surface and bulk oxygen species.

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.

Partial Oxidation of Methane to Syngas over Monolithic Ni/γ-Al_2O_3 Catalyst——Effects of Rare Earths and Other Basic Promoters

A series of monolithic Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalysts with and without basic promoters （Na, Sr, La, Ce） were prepared. Partial oxidation of methane （POM） to syngas was carried out in a continuous-flow, fixed-bed reactor. The influences of reaction conditions, including temperature, CH4/O2 ratio and space velocity, on the performance of the catalyst were investigated. The results show that at a high space velocity of 1 ×10^5 h^-1, optimal CH4 conversion can be obtained. Effects of promoters such as Na, Sr, Ce, La were also investigated, and the catalyst samples were characterized by means of temperature-programmed reduction and XRD techniques. XRD suggests that the addition of promoters has no influence on the crystal structure of Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The results show that the addition of a small amount of promoters improves the reducibility and activity of the catalyst. The side reaction CH4 ＋ 2O2→CO2 ＋ H2O, is fully restrained and 100% H2 selectivity is achieved when Ce and La are used as promoters, respectively.

Partial oxidation of methane in Ba_(0.5)Sr_(0.5)Co_(0.8)Fe_(0.1)Ni_(0.1)O_(3-δ) ceramic membrane reactor

Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.1Ni0.1O3δ（BSCFNiO） perovskite oxides were synthesized using a combined EDTA-citrate complexation method,and then pressed into disk and applied in a membrane reactor.The performance of the BSCFNiO membrane reactor was studied for partial oxidation of methane over Ni/α-Al 2 O 3 catalyst.The time dependence of oxygen permeation rate and catalytic performance of BSCFNiO membrane during the catalyst initiation stage were investigated at 850 C.In unsteady state,oxygen permeation rate,methane conversion and CO selectivity were closely related to the state of the catalyst.After 300 min from the initial time,the reaction condition reached to steady state and oxygen permeation rate were obtained about 11.7cm 3 cm 2 min 1.Also,the performance of membrane reactor was studied at the temperatures between 750 and 950 C.The results demonstrated good performance for the membrane reactor,as CH 4 conversion and CO selectivity permeation rate reached 98% and 97.5%,respectively,and oxygen permeation rate was about 14.5 cm 3 cm 2 min 1 which was 6.8 times higher than that of air-helium gradient.Characterization of membrane surface by SEM after reaction showed that the original grains disappeared on both surfaces exposed to the air and reaction side,but XRD profile of the polished surface membrane indicated that the membrane bulk preserved the perovskite structure.

Complete Oxidation of Methane over Palladium Supported on Alumina Modified with Calcium,Lanthanum,and Cerium Ions

The activity and thermal stability of Pd/Al2O3 and Pd/（Al2O3＋MOx） （M=Ca, La, Ce） palladium catalysts in the reaction of complete oxidation of methane are presented in this study. The catalyst supports were prepared by sol-gel method and they were dried either conventionally or with supercritical carbon dioxide. Then they were impregnated with palladium nitrate solution. The catalysts with unmodified alumina had a high surface area. The activity and thermal stability of the aluminasupported catalyst was also very high. The introduction of calcium, lanthanum, or cerium oxide into alumina support caused a decrease of the surface area in the way dependent on the support precursor drying method. These modifiers decreased the activity of palladium catalysts, and they required higher temperatures for the complete oxidation of methane than unmodified Pd/Al2O3. The improvement of the palladium activity by lanthanum and cerium support modifier was observed only at low temperatures of the reaction.

Effect of different mixing ways in palladium/ceria-zirconia/alumina preparation on partial oxidation of methane

The effect of the mixing ways of Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-Al2O3 mixed oxides on the partial oxidations of methane （POM） was investigated over Pd/Ce0.7Zr0.3O2-Al2O3 catalysts, the mixing ways including salt precursor mixing （ATOM）, precipitator mixing （MOL）, and powder mechanically mixing （MECH）, respectively. The test results indicated that among the three samples, Pd/ATOM had the best catalytic activity while Pd/MOL had the best stability in the stability test. Both the activity sequences of the fresh and used samples were consistent with the order of Pd dispersion. According to the X-ray diffraction （XRD） and BET characterization, the interaction of Ce^4＋, Zr^4＋, and Al^3＋ in the ATOM mixed oxide was in favor of performing higher catalytic activity and thermal stability. The stability test indicated that Pd/MOL had the highest Pd dispersion and least coke formation on the active sites calculated by the Hz-chemisorption and TG results, which was considered to relate to its superior activity of POM to other catalysts.

Studies on Catalysis in Partial Oxidation of Methane to Syngas(Ⅰ)──Performance and Characterization of Ni-based Catalysts

Highly active and selective Ni-based catalysts for partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas (CO/H,) have been studied and developed. Spectroscopic characterization by XRD, XPS, EPR, etc. demonstrated that under the POM reaction conditions, the Ni-components of the catalysts investigated were reduced and enriched on the surface to form metallic Ni0-phase. A comparative study of the first series of transition-metals showed that only Ni and Co have a high POM activity and selectivity, whereas the others (including Mn, Fe, Cu, etc. ) give mainly complete combustion products, Co, and H2O. The results favor the following viewpoints: the PoM activity is related with the rapidly changeable valence transitionmetal sites, M0/M2+ (e. g. Ni0/Ni2+ ), on the surface of the functioning catalysts;the transition-metal sites in zero-valence state seem to be responsible for the activation and dehydrogenation of methane by homolytic splitting of its C-H bonds on these sites. and the nature of rapidly changeable valence of the active sties is requisite for activation and rapid conversion of dioxygen.

Effects of surface states over core-shell Ni@SiO_2 catalysts on catalytic partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas

In the present work, core-shell Ni@SiO2 catalysts were investigated in order to evaluate the relevance of catalytic activity and surface states of Ni core as well as Ni nanoparticles size to catalytic partial oxidation of methane （POM）. The catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption, H2-TPR, XRD, TEM and XPS techniques. The catalytic performance of the core-shell catalysts was found to be dependent on the surface states of catalyst, which influenced the formation of products. It was considered that carbon dioxide formed on the oxidized nickel sites （NiO） and carbon monoxide produced on the reduced sites （Ni）. The surface states of active metal in the dynamic were influenced both by the size of Ni core and the porosity of silica shell. However, the catalytic activity would be debased when the size of Ni core was under a certain extent, which can be ascribed to the fact the carbon deposition increased with the increasing content of NiO. The effects of surface states of Ni@SiO2 catalyst on the catalytic performance were discussed and the reaction pathway over Ni core encapsulated inside silica shell was proposed.

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.

Effects of soil moisture and temperature on CH_4 oxidation and N_2O emission of forest soil

Soil samples were taken from depth of 0-12cm in the virgin broad- leaved/Korean pine mixed forest in Changbai Mountain in April, 2000. 20 μL·L-1 and 200 μL·L-1 CH4 and N2O concentration were supplied for analysis. Laboratory study on CH4 oxidation and N2O emission in forest soil showed that fresh soil sample could oxidize atmospheric methane and product N2O. Air-dried soil sample could not oxidize atmospheric methane, but could produCt N2O. However, it could oxidize the supplied methane quickly when its concentration was higher than 20 μL·L-1. The oxidation rate of methane was increased with its initial concentration. An addition of water to dry soil caused large pulse of N2O emissions within 2 hours. There were curvilinear correlations between N2O emission and temperature (r2=0.706, p <0.05), and between N2O emission andtwater content (r2=0.2968. p <0.05). These suggested temperature and water content were important factors controlling N2O emission. The correlation between CH4 oxidization and temperature was also found while CH4 was supplied 200 μL·L-1 (r2 =0.3573, p<0.05). Temperature was an important f8Ctor controlling CH4 oxidation. However, when 20 μL·L-1 CH4 was supplied, there was no correlation among CH4 oxidization, N2O emission, temperature and water content.

Selective oxidation of methane to syngas using Pr_(0.7)Zr_(0.3)O_(2-δ): Stability of oxygen carrier

Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ solid solution was prepared by co-precipitation method and used as an oxygen carrier in the selective oxidation of methane to syngas(methane/air redox process). The evolution on the physicochemical properties of Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ during the redox process was studied by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD), H2 temperature-programmed reduction(H2-TPR), O2temperature-programmed desorption(O2-TPD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller(BET) surface area measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) technologies. The results indicated that Pr0.7Zr0.3O2-δ solid solution showed the high activity for the methane conversion to syngas with a high CO selectivity in the range of 83.5%-88.1%. Though Pr-Zr solid solution possessed high thermal stability, lattice oxygen was obviously reduced for the recycled sample due to decreased surface oxygen which promoted oxygen vacancies. The increased oxygen vacancies seemed to enhance the oxygen transfer ability in the redox process and provided sufficient oxygen for the methane selective oxidation, resulting in a satisfactory activity. The problem of hot pot was avoided by comparing fresh, aged and recycle sample in the reaction.

Investigation on the Performance of Supported Molybdenum Carbide for the Partial Oxidation of Methane

The performance of supported and unsupported molybdenum carbide for thepartial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas was investigated. An evaluation of the catalystsindicates that bulk molybdenum carbide has a higher methane conversion during the initial stage buta lower selectivity to CO and H_2/CO ratio in the products. The rapid deactivation of the catalystis also a significant problem. However, the supported molybdenum carbide catalyst shows a muchhigher methane conversion, increased selectivity and significantly improved catalytic stability. Thecharacterization by XRD and BET specific area measurements depict an improved dispersion ofmolybdenum carbide when using alumina as a carrier. The bulk or the supported molybdenum carbideexists in the β-MO_2C phase, while it is transformed into molybdenum dioxide postcatalysis which isan important cause of molybdenum carbide deactivation.