Monoliths washcoated with AuCu catalysts for CO removal in an ethanol fuel processor: Effect of CeO2-SiO2 dual support on the catalytic performance and reactor cost

CO removal from a syngas was evaluated in a single catalytic unit using structured AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 catalysts. Initially, AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 powder catalysts with several SiO2 loadings (0-100 mol%) were assessed. SiO2 addition into AuCu/CeO2 increased the surface area by up to 3.4 times and reduced its cost by up to 60%, but reduced CO conversion. On the other hand, the AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 catalyst washcoated on monolith outperformed the powder samples at temperatures above 260 degrees C. In particular, outlet CO concentrations adequate to feed high temperature fuel cells were obtained with monoliths washcoated with AuCu/CeO2 (0.2% CO) and AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 with 75 mol% of SiO2 (3.6% CO). Furthermore, the Au/CeO2-SiO2 monolith (14 $/g(cat)) is 36% cheaper than the AuCu/CeO2 monolith, paving the road to the development of compact and economic H-2 cleanup processes. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

CO removal from syngas was evaluated using structured AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 catalysts in a single catalytic unit. Addition of SiO2 into AuCu/CeO2 increased surface area and reduced cost, but decreased CO conversion. Washcoated AuCu/CeO2-SiO2 catalyst on monolith outperformed powder samples at temperatures above 260°C, showing potential for economic H-2 cleanup processes.