Syngas production from methane using ion transport oxides

• Main Author: Ma, Khine Su Su
• Other Authors: Jiang San Ping
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Energy conservation
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/41765
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Hydrogen will be an ideal clean energy carrier in the future if the Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell becomes economically available for automobile and domestic applications. Hydrogen at present is being produced in large quantities at a reasonable cost for industrial purposes. However, the challenge with tomorrow's hydrogen is the high cost of distributing hydrogen to dispersed locations. One solution to overcome this hurdle is through distributed small-scale hydrogen production. In this study, a new process which is potential for small-scale H2 production is implemented for the distributed hydrogen/synthesis gas production with the use of Ion Transport Oxides (ITOs). A simple cyclic reaction is proposed, where suitable candidates to be used in this system are determined. The ITOs were made to undergo reaction directly with methane at high temperature ranging from 800 to 950°C, forming hydrogenlsyngas (H2 + CO) in the production step (generation step) and these reduced oxides are recovered by air in the re-generation step. The overall equation for the reaction is CH4+ air -> CO + H2 + N2. The study covered three different categories of ion transport oxides namely the ABO3 perovskite-type structure Lal-xAxBO3 perovskites-type oxides (A= Ba, Ca, Mg, and Sr while B=Cr and Fe), K2NiF4 structure La2Nil-xMxO4 (M= Fe, Co and Cu with x=0, 0.3, 0.5) La2-yLnyNiO4 (Ln= Gd, Ce and Sr with y=0.2, 0.6, 1.0) and the fluoritetype structure, Gd, Sm and Y doped CeO2. The oxides were characterized by specific surface area measurements (BET), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR).