Effect of the Catalyst Load on Syngas Production in Short Contact Time Catalytic Partial Oxidation Reactors

Abstract

Short contact time catalytic partial oxidation (SCT-CPO) of natural gas is a promising technology for syngas production, representing an appealing alternative to existing processes. This process is likely to become more important in the future due to its advantages in thermodynamics, mildly exothermic overall reaction, and H2/CO ratio of 2, ideal for downstream processes. Rh catalysts are preferred among those based on noble metals because they avoid coke deposition. However, Rh is very expensive. Thus, the design of nanocomposite catalysts with the minimum Rh load for a feasible industrial process is the aim of the present work: 0.25, 0.5, and 1% Rh load were considered. The catalytic reactor is made of a fixed bed of Rh deposited on both Al2O3 spheres in an egg-shell configuration and Al2O3 irregular particles in an egg-yolk configuration. The weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) was varied from 130 to 460 N L h−1 gcat−1. The 0.5% Rh in the egg-yolk configuration allowed the highest CH4 conversion (>90%) and H2 selectivity (>98%) values at any tested WHSV.