Accelerated syngas generation from chemical looping CH4 reforming by using reduced ilmenite ore as catalyst

Chemical looping reforming of CH4 (CH4-CLR) is an advanced technology for syngas generation, and ilmenite ore has been considered a promising oxygen carrier material due to its extremely low cost. However, the weak reactivity of ilmenite ore over CH4 prevents its practical application in CH4-CLR. This study has established a facile strategy to enhance the reactivity of CH4 toward ilmenite ore by simply introducing the same but reduced ilmenite ore as the catalyst for a pre-activation of CH4, so as to accelerate the reaction between the CH4 and ilmenite. Results show that the addition of reduced ilmenite ore as catalyst significantly accelerates the reaction between CH4 and ilmenite ore, which successfully reduces the induction period from 150 min to almost 0 min. A higher catalyst to oxygen carrier ratio, higher temperature and deeper reduction stage of the catalyst are all beneficial in accelerating the reaction between CH4 and ilmenite ore.

Automated summary

This study established a method to enhance the reactivity of CH4 towards ilmenite ore by introducing reduced ilmenite ore as a catalyst for pre-activation. Results showed that the addition of reduced ilmenite ore significantly accelerated the reaction between CH4 and ilmenite ore. Higher catalyst to oxygen carrier ratio, temperature, and deeper reduction stage of the catalyst were found to be beneficial in speeding up the reaction.