Synthetic natural gas production in a 1 kW reactor using Ni-Ce/Al2O3 and Ru-Ce/Al2O3: Kinetics, catalyst degradation and process design

Nickel and ruthenium promoted by ceria were compared as catalyst active phase for the production of synthetic natural gas in a 1 kW fixed-bed reactor (49 cm in length and 3 cm in diameter). Both catalysts were tested in a broad range of conditions: 250-450 degrees C, 8000-16000 h(-1) GHSV, 3.5-5.5H(2)/CO2 ratio, and atmospheric pressure. The Ni-based catalyst presented higher CO2 conversion and lower reduction of BET area and metal dispersion after utilization. Two kinetic models were elaborated according to the performance of the catalysts in this reactor. The minimum mean squared error between the kinetic model and experiments was 3.0% for the Ru-based catalyst and 1.4% for the Ni-based catalyst. The kinetic model of the Ni-based catalyst was implemented in Aspen Plus to evaluate potential methanation plant designs. The simulation minimized the amount of catalyst required to reach 95 vol% of CH4, within proper technical limits (GHSV <= 5000 h(-1) and temperature >= 300 degrees C). The 3-reactor plant was the most adequate configuration. The total catalyst mass was 3.26 kg per kg/h of SNG, the heat removed from the reactors was 10.8 MJ/kgSNG, and the preheating necessity was 4.90 MJ/kgSNG. The electrolysis energy consumption was 86.4 MJ/kgSNG. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study compared nickel and ruthenium promoted by ceria as catalyst active phase for the production of synthetic natural gas. Nickel-based catalyst exhibited higher CO2 conversion and showed less reduction of BET area and metal dispersion after utilization. Two kinetic models were established, with the kinetic model of the nickel-based catalyst performing better in fitting with the experimental data.