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Stable catalyst design for the viable activation of methane to syngas, hydrogen, and chemicals

Problem statement

Methane and light alkanes are surplus species and by-products with relatively poor economic interest. Our goal is to activate C–H σ-bond to produce hydrogen, olefins, carbon monoxide, and carbon nanofibers, following different process strategies such as oxidative coupling (for olefins), CO2 dry reforming (for syngas), cracking or catalytic decomposition (for hydrogen-free of COx and sequestrated carbon nanotubes/nanofibers), cracking/co-cracking with CO or methanol. We work on developing, synthesizing, characterizing, and testing innovative catalysts with a twist of reaction engineering concepts, looking at multi-scale implications.

We delve into the mechanistic insights of a series of in-house synthesized metal-supported heterogeneous catalysts by combining them with dynamic reactors and ab initio calculations. We explore catalysts with promoted lifetime, activity, selectivity, and heat exchange.

We investigate novel reactor designs grounded on forced dynamic (operando) fluidized-bed reactors at high pressures to amplify the kinetic information and hydrogen.

Goals

  • Develop a microkinetic-based modeling framework to analyze the catalyst performance
  • Scale the technical catalyst for its application in demanding exothermic (oxidative coupling of methane using SiC and spray drying) or fluidized-bed (catalytic decomposition of methane) conditions
  • Develop new catalytic concepts based on Ni-alloys (Ni-Fe, -Co, -Zn…)
  • Improve the catalyst structure-function correlations using in-situ, operando, and dynamic techniques and reactors
CHA2023

Related People

Xueqin Bai (Bruce)

Related Publications

Multi-technique operando methods and instruments for simultaneous assessment of thermal catalysis structure, performance, dynamics, and kinetics

by Velisoju, Kulkarni, Cui, Rabee, Paalanen, Rabeah, Maestri, Brückner, Ruiz-Martinez, Castaño
Chem Catal. Year: 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.checat.2023.100666

Abstract

The operando methodology is instrumental in catalysis science to assess catalyst structure, performance, dynamics, and kinetics under working conditions. This review analyzes the progress achieved mainly in thermal catalysis to combine different techniques and obtain the interdependency between catalyst structure, function, and reaction media. We analyze various materials of construction, reactor designs, contact types of the catalyst with the reactant, and modes of operation. We also highlight recent studies on combining these techniques and augmenting the obtained data by focusing on instrumentation and experimental design. We review the different reactors/cells used for different applications to understand the type of information received, limitations, and the design principles of these instruments. We provide our viewpoints on integrating spectroscopy, catalysis science, and reaction engineering; these advanced operandotechniques can offer a more comprehensive image of catalysts at work.

Keywords

CO2 CHA CRE