Premium
Structured Ni‐CeO 2 ‐Al 2 O 3 /Ni‐Foam Catalyst with Enhanced Heat Transfer for Substitute Natural Gas Production by Syngas Methanation
Author(s) -
Li Yakun,
Zhang Qiaofei,
Chai Ruijuan,
Zhao Guofeng,
Liu Ye,
Lu Yong
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201500086
Subject(s) - substitute natural gas , methanation , syngas , catalysis , materials science , chemical engineering , sintering , chemistry , metallurgy , organic chemistry , engineering
Concerns about the clean utilization of coal and the development of sustainable energy have provided a particular impetus for the exploration into the production of substitute natural gas (SNG) by syngas methanation in some parts of world. Owing to heat‐transfer limitations, current SNG technology based on a series of fixed‐bed reactors packed with oxide‐supported Ni catalysts suffers from issues such as high costs, low efficiency, and catalyst sintering. We report a monolithic Ni‐Ce‐Al 2 O 3 /Ni‐foam catalyst obtainable by modified wet‐chemical etching of Ni foam. Such a catalyst, with significantly enhanced heat transfer, is highly active, highly selective, and very stable for syngas methanation. Computational fluid dynamics calculations and experimental measurements consistently show a large reduction in the “hotspot” temperature in the Ni‐foam‐structured catalyst bed owing to high thermal conductivity. We anticipate that our approach will open a new opportunity for next‐generation SNG plant design.