Kinetics and Reactor Design Aspects of Selective Methanation of CO over a Ru/?-Al 2 O 3 Catalyst in CO 2 /H 2 Rich Gases

Panagiota Garbis, Christoph Kern and Andreas Jess
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Panagiota Garbis: Chair of Chemical Engineering, Center of Energy Technology, University Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Christoph Kern: Chair of Chemical Engineering, Center of Energy Technology, University Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Andreas Jess: Chair of Chemical Engineering, Center of Energy Technology, University Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-15

Abstract: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for household applications utilize H 2 produced from natural gas via steam reforming followed by a water gas shift (WGS) unit. The H 2 -rich gas contains CO 2 and small amounts of CO, which is a poison for PEMFCs. Today, CO is mostly converted by addition of O 2 and preferential oxidation, but H 2 is then also partly oxidized. An alternative is selective CO methanation, studied in this work. CO 2 methanation is then a highly unwanted reaction, consuming additional H 2 . The kinetics of CO methanation in CO 2 /H 2 rich gases were studied with a home-made Ru catalyst in a fixed bed reactor at 1 bar and 160–240 °C. Both CO and CO 2 methanation can be well described by a Langmuir Hinshelwood approach. The rate of CO 2 methanation is slow compared to CO. CO 2 is directly converted to methane, i.e., the indirect route via reverse water gas shift (WGS) and subsequent CO methanation could be excluded by the experimental data and in combination with kinetic considerations. Pore diffusion may affect the CO conversion (>200 °C). The kinetic equations were applied to model an adiabatic fixed bed methanation reactor of a fuel cell appliance.

Keywords: ruthenium catalyst; CO methanation; kinetic modeling; fixed bed reactor; process simulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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