Hydrogen Production from Methane Cracking in Dielectric Barrier Discharge Catalytic Plasma Reactor Using a Nanocatalyst

Asif Hussain Khoja, Abul Kalam Azad, Faisal Saleem, Bilal Alam Khan, Salman Raza Naqvi, Muhammad Taqi Mehran and Nor Aishah Saidina Amin
Additional contact information
Asif Hussain Khoja: Fossil Fuels Laboratory, Department of Thermal Energy Engineering, US-Pakistan Centre for Advanced Studies in Energy (USPCAS-E), National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Abul Kalam Azad: School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, 120 Spencer Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia
Faisal Saleem: Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore 38000, Faisalabad Campus, Pakistan
Bilal Alam Khan: Department of Applied Science and Technology, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Salman Raza Naqvi: School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Muhammad Taqi Mehran: School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Nor Aishah Saidina Amin: Chemical Reaction Engineering Group, School of Chemical & Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Technology Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor Bahru 81310, Malaysia

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-15

Abstract: The study experimentally investigated a novel approach for producing hydrogen from methane cracking in dielectric barrier discharge catalytic plasma reactor using a nanocatalyst. Plasma-catalytic methane (CH 4 ) cracking was undertaken in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) catalytic plasma reactor using Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 . The Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 was synthesised through co-precipitation followed customised hydrothermal method. The physicochemical properties of the catalyst were examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy—energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 shows a porous structure spinel MgAl 2 O 4 and thermal stability. In the catalytic-plasma methane cracking, the Ni/MgAl 2 O 4 shows 80% of the maximum conversion of CH 4 with H 2 selectivity 75%. Furthermore, the stability of the catalyst was encouraging 16 h with CH 4 conversion above 75%, and the selectivity of H 2 was above 70%. This is attributed to the synergistic effect of the catalyst and plasma. The plasma-catalytic CH 4 cracking is a promising technology for the simultaneous H 2 and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) production for energy storage applications.

Keywords: hydrogen production; methane cracking; DBD plasma reactor; MgAl 2 O 4; CNTs (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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