Affiliation: | a Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chaussee Blvd., 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria b Department of Chemistry, University of Mining and Geology, 1100 Sofia, Bulgaria |
Abstract: | This study describes a pioneering investigation of plasma-chemical synthesis (PCS) and/or regeneration of natural gas-reforming catalysts under the conditions of electric arc, low temperature plasma (LTP), as a function of plasma-chemical process (PCP) parameters and plasma-chemical reactor (PCR) type (with “cold walls” or “warm walls”). Based on the model calculations, a plasma-chemical installation was designed, built, and used to study the processes of catalyst preparation and regeneration of spent, deactivated catalysts for natural gas-reforming. Plasma-chemically synthesized and/or regenerated samples were analyzed by means of complex physical-chemical, X-ray pattern structural, and electron-microscopic analyses. And the dynamics and kinetics of active surface formation by reduction of catalysts were studied. A temperature range of 2000–3000 K has been established as optimal for synthesizing samples with maximum dispersion, producing a reduction rate 2–4 times faster than industrial analogues. Samples with high catalytic activity (CH4 conversion rate, catalyst performance, catalyst efficiency) and thermal stability were obtained. Thus, it has been found that LTP can be successfully used for catalyst synthesis and regeneration. |