Catalytic Assessment of Nickel based Catalyst for Methane Synthesis from Syngas in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

ElNahrawy, Mohamed; Aman, Delvin; Zaki, Tamer; Mikhail, Sara; Nosier, Shaaban; Nasser, AlHassan

doi:10.21608/ijtar.2022.138960.1001

Catalytic Assessment of Nickel based Catalyst for Methane Synthesis from Syngas in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

² Petroleum Refining Department, Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/ijtar.2022.138960.1001

Abstract

Synthetic natural gas (SNG) has attracted significant attention over the past years due to its critical role in the future energy mix where it can be produced from multiple sources, including coal, wastes & biomass. In addition to having huge infrastructure already in place for transportation and utilization. Carbon monoxide (CO) methanation is considered one of the major SNG production routes. Nickel oxide catalyst supported on silica extracted from risk husk was prepared using wet impregnation method and characterized using different techniques including XRD, N2 Adsorption, Atomic absorption, XRF & TPR. Distinctively from most of the published previous work, The catalyst performance in progressing CO Methantion reaction was tested in a bubbling fluidized bed continuous flow reactor system at the stoichiometric H2:CO ratio of 3:1 in absence of any other feed constituents. The catalytic runs were conducted at atmospheric pressure, in the temperature range between 200-450oC and at fluidization velocity equal to four times the minimum fluidization velocity (Umf). CO conversion, CH4 selectivity & CO2 Selectivity were calculated for all runs. Based on the assessment of catalytic runs, fluidized bed reactor system proved to be efficient in ensuring adequate temperature control and uniformity for CO methanation. Optimal results of 97% CO conversion, 81% CH4 selectivity and 21% CO2 selectivity were achieved at operating conditions of temperature of 450oC, pressure of 1 bara & superficial velocity of 4 Umf.. Recommendations for future work in terms of catalyst development and operating conditions were also made based on the results achieved.

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