CO_2 methanation over TiO_2–Al_2O_3 binary oxides supported Ru catalysts

TiO_2 modified Al_2O_3 binary oxide was prepared by a wet-impregnation method and used as the support for ruthenium catalyst. The catalytic performance of Ru/TiO_2–Al_2O_3catalyst in CO_2 methanation reaction was investigated. Compared with Ru/Al_2O_3 catalyst, the Ru/TiO_2–Al_2O_3catalytic system exhibited a much higher activity in CO_2 methanation reaction. The reaction rate over Ru/TiO_2–Al_2O_3 was 0.59 mol CO_2·(g Ru)1·h-1, 3.1 times higher than that on Ru/Al_2O_3[0.19 mol CO_2·(gRu)-1·h-1]. The effect of TiO_2 content and TiO_2–Al_2O_3calcination temperature on catalytic performance was addressed. The corresponding structures of each catalyst were characterized by means of H_2-TPR, XRD, and TEM. Results indicated that the averaged particle size of the Ru on TiO_2–Al_2O_3support is 2.8 nm, smaller than that on Al_2O_3 support of 4.3 nm. Therefore, we conclude that the improved activity over Ru/TiO_2–Al_2O_3catalyst is originated from the smaller particle size of ruthenium resulting from a strong interaction between Ru and the rutile-TiO_2 support, which hindered the aggregation of Ru nanoparticles.     

Selective CO removal in a H2-rich stream over supported Ru catalysts for the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)

We prepared various Ru catalysts supported on different supports such as yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ), ZrO₂, TiO₂, SiO₂ and γ-Al₂O₃ with a wet impregnation method. We applied them to the selective CO removal in a hydrogen-rich stream via the preferential CO oxidation (PROX) and the selective CO methanation simultaneously. Among them, Ru/YSZ showed the highest CO conversion especially at low temperatures. Several measurements: the N₂ physisorption, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), the CO chemisorptions, the temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO), the temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), the temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) of CO₂ with mass spectroscopy and the transmission electron microscopy (TEM), were conducted to characterize the catalysts. No linear correlation can be found between the amount of CO chemisorbed at 300 K and the PROX activity. On the other hand, the facile activation of O₂ appeared to be closely related to the high PROX activity, judging by the TPO experiment. In addition, the strong adsorption of CO₂ suppressed the low-temperature PROX activity. Ru/YSZ can be easily oxidized and also reduced at low temperatures. It is found that Ru/YSZ uptakes only small amounts of CO₂, which can be desorbed at low temperatures. Ru/YSZ can reduce the high inlet CO concentration to be less than 10 ppm even in the presence of H₂O and CO₂.     

前驱体对Ru/CeO_2-ZrO_2-Al_2O_3催化剂CO选择性甲烷化的影响

以CeO_2-ZrO_2-Al_2O_3复合氧化物为载体,采用分步等体积浸渍法制备了不同Ru负载量及不同Ru前驱体的催化剂,并考察了这些因素对催化剂CO选择性甲烷化活性及为燃料电池供氢操作温度窗口的影响。结果表明,Ru负载量为1%的催化剂具有较好的CO选择性甲烷化活性及最宽的操作温度窗口;以Ru(NO)(NO_3)_3为前驱体制备的催化剂,Ru金属分散度较差,低温CO甲烷化活性较低,高温CO甲烷化选择性较差,操作温度窗口仅为15℃;以RuCl_3·xH_2O为前驱体制备的催化剂具有良好的CO选择性、甲烷化活性及60℃操作温度窗口,且水洗除氯操作对催化剂性能影响不明显。     

Selective CO oxidation in the presence of hydrogen over supported Pt catalysts promoted with transition metals

Selective CO oxidation in the presence of excess hydrogen was studied over supported Pt catalysts promoted with various transition metal compounds such as Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Zr. CO chemisorption, XRD, TPR, and TPO were conducted to characterize active catalysts. Among them, Pt-Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ showed high CO conversions over wide reaction temperatures. For supported Pt-Ni catalysts, Alumina was superior to TiO₂ and ZrO₂ as a support. The catalytic activity at low temperatures increased with increasing the molar ratio of Ni/Pt. This accompanied the TPR peak shift to lower temperatures. The optimum molar ratio between Ni and Pt was determined to be 5. This Pt-Ni/γ A1₂O₃ showed no decrease in CO conversion and CO₂ selectivity for the selective CO oxidation in the presence of 2 vol% H₂O and 20 vol% CO₂. The bimetallic phase of Pt-Ni seems to give rise to stable activity with high CO₂ selectivity in selective oxidation of CO in H₂-rich stream.     

Catalytic decomposition of ammonia over fly ash supported Ru catalysts

Fly ash (FA), an industrial waste material, has been treated by physical and chemical methods. These materials were then employed as supports for preparation of Ru-based catalysts for H₂ generation from ammonia decomposition. The physicochemical properties of the supports and Ru-based catalysts were characterised using several techniques. The results revealed that the surface area of FA could be enhanced and thus improved the dispersion of Ru particles, resulting in higher catalytic activity. Ru/FA-800 exhibits the highest conversion due to higher surface loading of Ru, stronger NH₃ adsorption and least acid sites.     

Synthetic natural gas from CO hydrogenation over silicon carbide supported nickel catalysts

Silicon carbide supported nickel catalysts for CO methanation were prepared by impregnation method. The activity of the catalysts was tested in a fixed-bed reactor with a stream of H₂/CO = 3 without diluent gas. The results show that 15 wt.% Ni/SiC catalyst calcined at 550 °C exhibits excellent catalytic activity. As compared with 15 wt.% Ni/TiO₂ catalyst, the Ni/SiC catalyst shows higher activity and stability in the methanation reaction. The characterization results from X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy suggest that no obvious catalyst sintering has occurred in the Ni/SiC catalyst due to the excellent thermal stability and high heat conductivity of SiC.     

Kinetics of the methanation of carbon dioxide over a supported Ni-La2O3 catalyst

The kinetics of the methanation of carbon dioxide was investigated using an alumina supported Ni-La₂O₂ catalyst in a differential and integral reactor. In the differential reactor the molar ratio of H₂ to CO₂ was varied from 0.6 to 30. In the integral reactor the rates were measured with up to 90% conversion. Both reactor tests were carried out at temperatures between 513 and 593 K. The experimental results were described by a Langmuir-Hinshelwood type equation. The kinetics can be explained by assuming equilibrium of dissociative carbon dioxide and hydrogen adsorption, and assuming hydrogenation of surface carbon as the rate determining step.     

Influence of the support on CO2 methanation over Ru catalysts: an FT-IR study

The hydrogenation of CO₂ to methane has been investigated over Ru catalysts supported on zeolite (H-ZSM-5) and on silica. Supported Ru catalysts were very active for the hydrogenation of CO₂. Ru/ZSM-5 was more selective to methane than Ru/SiO₂. On the basis of FT-IR spectra of CO and CO₂ adsorbed on the catalysts, it has been suggested that this behaviour can be related to a higher positive polarization of ruthenium on the zeolite. This leads to a weaker Ru–CO bond on the H-ZSM-5-supported sample with a corresponding increase of the hydrogen surface coverage that favours the transformation of the intermediate CO to methane. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Copper oxide catalysts supported on ceria for low-temperature CO oxidation

Copper oxide catalysts supported on ceria were prepared by wet impregnation method using finely CeO₂ nanocrystals, which was derived from alcohothermal synthesis, and copper nitrate dissolved in the distilled water. The catalytic activity of the prepared CeO₂ and CuO/CeO₂ catalysts for low-temperature CO oxidation was investigated by means of a microreactor-GC system. The samples were characterized using BET, XRD, SEM, HRTEM and TPR.     

Sequential production of H2 and CO over supported Ni catalysts

Methane decomposition into H₂ and carbon nanofibers at 823 K and subsequent gasification of the carbon nanofibers with CO₂ into CO at 923 K were performed over supported Ni catalysts (Ni/SiO₂, Ni/TiO₂ and Ni/Al₂O₃). Supported Ni catalysts were deactivated for CH₄ decomposition with time on stream due to deposition of a large amount of carbon nanofibers. Subsequent contact of CO₂ with carbon nanofibers on the deactivated catalysts resulted in the formation of CO with a conversion of the carbons higher than 95%. In addition, gasification with CO₂ regenerated the activity of supported Ni catalysts for CH₄ decomposition, indicating that H₂ formation through CH₄ decomposition and CO formation through gasification with CO₂ could be carried out repeatedly. Conversions of carbon nanofibers into CO were kept higher than 95% in the repeated gasification over all the catalysts, while change in the catalytic activity for CH₄ decomposition with the repeated cycles depended on the kind of catalytic supports. Catalytic activity of Ni/SiO₂ for CH₄ decomposition was high at early cycles, however, the activity decreased gradually with the repeated cycles. On the other hand, Ni/TiO₂ and Ni/Al₂O₃ showed high activity for CH₄ decomposition and the activity was kept high during the repeated cycles. These changes of catalytic activities for CH₄ decomposition could be explained by changes in particle sizes of Ni metal, i.e. Ni metal particles in Ni/SiO₂ aggregated into ones larger than 150 nm with the repeated cycles, while the particle sizes of Ni metal in Ni/TiO₂ and Ni/Al₂O₃ remained at an effective range for CH₄ decomposition (60-100 nm).     

ZrO2-Al2O3复合载体负载Ni基催化剂COx甲烷化性能

采用浸渍和粉末压片的方法制备了两种ZrO₂-Al₂O₃复合载体并用于负载Ni基催化剂,并利用氮气等温物理吸附、X射线粉末衍射（XRD）、H₂程序升温还原（H₂-TPR）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和透射电子显微镜（TEM）等分析手段对催化剂物化性质进行表征,考察了ZrO₂-Al₂O₃复合载体制备方法及ZrO₂的引入对Ni基催化剂在CO、CO₂和CO-CO₂共存的3种体系下甲烷化反应活性的影响。材料表征和活性测试结果表明,在CO甲烷化体系中,与单一Al₂O₃载体相比,引入ZrO₂的复合载体能有效提高催化剂中Ni物种的分散度从而增强CO甲烷化过程中催化剂活性,且粉末压片法较浸渍法制备的复合载体能有效提高催化剂的还原度,降低还原温度,但前者会大大降低催化剂的比表面积;在CO₂甲烷化体系中,当载体形貌和制备方法相同时,载体的变化对催化剂活性的影响较小,CO₂转化率主要受到制备方法不同引起的物理性质如比表面积变化的影响;在CO-CO₂共存体系中,由于CO在竞争吸附中比CO₂更容易占据活性位点,所以呈现出优先进行CO甲烷化再进行CO₂甲烷化、CO₂的含量先增多后减少的规律。     

Thermally differential methanation – A novel method to realize highly selective removal of CO from H2-rich reformates

Temperature-programmed methanations of CO in both He-diluted and reformate-simulated CO–CO₂–H₂ mixtures over a commercially available 0.5% Ru/Al₂O₃ catalyst have revealed that CO methanation always occurred earlier than that of CO₂ at lower temperatures and the temperature where CO₂ started methanating and the corresponding remaining CO decreased with decreasing initial CO content in the feed. This, while confirming the prior methanation of CO over CO₂, indicates that the fully selective CO methanation is possible. Thus, a novel method called thermally differential methanation was proposed and a totally 820 h long term, simplified thermally differential methanation was conducted to verify the effectiveness of the method on realizing simultaneously the full selectivity and a satisfactorily deep removal of CO from H₂-rich reformates for PEFC application.     

Raney Ni catalysts derived from different alloy precursors Part II. CO and CO2 methanation activity

Catalytic activity, in conjunction with reaction mechanism, was studied in the methanation of CO and CO₂ on three Raney Ni catalysts derived from different Ni-Al alloys using different leaching conditions. Main products were CH₄ and CO₂ in CO methanation, and CH₄ and CO in CO₂ methanation. Any other hydrocarbon products were not observed. Over all catalysts, CO methanation showed lower selectivity to methane and higher activation energy than CO₂ methanation. The catalyst derived from alloy having higher Ni content using more severe leaching conditions, namely higher reaction temperature and longer extraction time, showed higher specific activity and higher selectivity to methane both in CO and CO₂ methanation. In CO and CO₂ methanation on Raney Ni catalyst, catalytic activity was seen to have close relation with the activity to dissociate CO This paper was presented at the 2004 Korea/Japan/Taiwan Chemical Engineering Conference held at Busan, Korea between November 3 and 4,2004.     

Combined catalytic partial oxidation and CO2 reforming of methane over supported cobalt catalysts

The combined partial oxidation and CO₂ reforming of methane to synthesis gas was investigated over the reduced Co/MgO, Co/CaO, and Co/SiO₂ catalysts. Only Co/MgO has proved to be a highly efficient and stable catalyst. It provided about 94–95% yields to H₂ and CO at the high space velocity of 105000 mlg^–1h^–1 and for feed ratios CH₄/CO₂/O₂=4/2/1, without any deactivation for a period of study of 110 h. In contrast, the reduced Co/CaO and Co/SiO₂ provided no activity for the formation of H₂ and CO. The structure and reducibility of the calcined catalysts were examined using X-ray diffraction and temperature-programmed reduction, respectively. A solid solution of CoO and MgO, which was difficult to reduce, was identified in the 800°C calcined MgO-supported catalyst. The strong interactions induced by the formation of the solid solution are responsible for its superior activity in the combined reaction. The effects of reaction temperature, space velocity, and O₂/CO₂ ratio in the feed gases (while keeping the C/O ratio constant at 1/1) were investigated over the Co/MgO catalyst. The H₂/CO ratio in the product of the combined reaction increased with increasing O₂/CO₂ ratio in the feed.     

Poisoning of Pt/C catalysts by CO and its consequences over the kinetics of hydrogen chemisorption

The initial rate of hydrogen dissociation was studied as a function of irreversible CO coverage at 353 K on 30 wt.% Pt/carbon catalysts (Pt/C) prepared according to different processes. The Pt/C catalysts exhibit similar Pt dispersion (D  0.07) and mean Pt particles size (dp  16 nm). The turnover frequency (number of hydrogen molecules dissociated per CO-free surface Pt atom) was determined as a function of CO coverage from 0.0 to 0.8. The evolution of TOF as a function of CO coverage is in agreement with the model of CO adsorbing on low coordination sites (edges, corners) and then spreading across the faces to grow islands as Brandt suggested in the past (R.K. Brandt, M.R. Hughes, L.P. Bourget, K. Truszkowska, R.G. Greenler, Surf. Sci. 286 (1993) 15–25). At high CO coverage (0.8), TOF depends on the process by which the Pt/C catalyst was prepared. In particular, a Pt/C elaborated according to a colloidal process exhibits a low sensitivity to CO poisoning with an increase of TOF by one order of magnitude.     

Low temperature oxidation of CO over supported PdCl2-CuCl2 catalysts

PdCl₂-CuCl₂ catalyst supported on activated carbon was examined for the low temperature oxidation of CO. The catalyst developed in the present study was active and stable at ambient conditions if water were existing in the feed gas stream. The addition of Cu(NO₃)₂ into the PdCl₂-CuCl₂ catalyst significantly enhanced the CO oxidation activity. X-ray diffraction study revealed that the role of Cu(NO₃)₂ was to stabilize active Cu(II) species, Cu₂Cl(OH)₃, on the catalyst surface which maintains the redox property of palladium. When HC1 and SO₂ were also existing in the feed, they easily inactivated the catalyst. It was found that HC1 and SO₂ inhibited the formation of active Cu(II) species on the catalyst surface.     

Methanation of carbon dioxide over Ru/Titania at room temperature: explorations for a photoassisted catalytic reaction

The methanation of CO₂ has been investigated over a special Ru/TiO₂ catalyst suggested by Thampi, Kiwi and Graetzel [4]. This paper deals with the analysis of the material and the investigation of the reported photoenhancement of the activity. The catalyst is characterised by in situ UV-VIS spectroscopy and by XPS. Conversion experiments at atmospheric pressure were carried out with and without UV light irradiation. The irradiation increases the conversion significantly. From various experiments it can be shown, however, that this effect is due to a thermal effect and does not involve an intrinsic photochemical step. Localised Ti³⁺ states sensitise the support to convert visible light into heat resulting in the observed increase in conversion.     

Isoprene formation from CO and H2 over CeO2 catalysts

The CO-H₂ reaction over CeO₂ catalysts at around 623 K and 67 kPa forms isoprene with about 20% and 70% selectivities in total and C₅ hydrocarbons, respectively. The formation of dienes may be due to the low and high activity of CeO₂ for alkene and CO hydrogenation, respectively.