FG Prozess- und Anlagentechnik
Refine
Document Type
Way of publication
- Open Access (13)
Keywords
- CO2 methanation (7)
- Biogas upgrading (3)
- Biomethane production (3)
- Waste valorization (3)
- CO2 waste valorization (2)
- CeO2 (2)
- Cu catalysts (2)
- Green energy (2)
- Hydrothermal carbonization (2)
- Mixed-integer linear programming (2)
Institute
BTU
Seeking for advanced catalytic systems for the CO2 methanation reaction, the use of Ni supported catalysts over redox materials is often proposed. Profiting the superior redox properties described for layered perovskite systems, this work has investigated a series Ni supported YMn1-xAlxO3 (x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, 1) perovskite catalysts.
The obtained results evidenced the impact of the support nature on the systems redox properties and Ni-support interactions. Within the catalysts series, the greater methanation rates displayed by Ni/YMn0.5Al0.5O3 catalyst (0.748 mmolCO2,conv.s–1 gNi –1 at 400 ◦C and 60 L/gh) were associated to the interplay between the support redox
properties and superior Ni dispersion. The improved redox behavior attained through the Al-incorporation (up to x = 0.5) was associated to the layered perovskite structures which, being distorted and constituted by smaller crystal sizes, facilitated the behavior of Mn redox couples as surface species readily interconverted. Exhibiting
catalytic performances comparable to precious metals based catalysts, this work proposes the Ni/YMn0.5Al0.5O3 catalyst as an effective system for the CO2 methanation reaction.
3D-printed structured catalysts for CO2 methanation reaction: Advancing of gyroid-based geometries
(2022)
This work investigates the CO2 methanation rate of structured catalysts by tuning the geometry of 3D-printed metal Fluid Guiding Elements (FGEs) structures based on periodically variable pseudo-gyroid geometries. The enhanced performance showed by the structured catalytic systems is mostly associated with the capability of the
FGEs substrate geometries for efficient heat usages. Thus, variations on the channels diameter resulted in ca. 25% greater CO2 conversions values at intermediate temperature ranges. The highest void fraction evidenced in the best performing catalyst (3D-1) favored the radial heat transfer and resulted in significantly enhanced catalytic activity, achieving close to equilibrium (75%) conversions at 400 ◦C and 120 mL/min. For the 3D-1 catalyst, a mathematical model based on an experimental design was developed thus enabling the estimation of its behavior as a function of temperature, spatial velocity, hydrogen to carbon dioxide (H2/CO2) ratio, and inlet CO2 concentration.
Its optimal operating conditions were established under 3 different scenarios: 1) no restrictions, 2) minimum H2:CO2 ratios, and 3) minimum temperatures and H2/CO2 ratio. For instance, for the lattest scenario, the best CO2 methanation conditions require operating at 431 ◦C, 200 mL/min, H2/CO2 = 3 M ratio, and inlet CO2 concentration = 10 %.
A series of Cu-based catalysts promoted with Fe, Ce and Al supported on cellulose derived carbon (CDC) was prepared by biomorphic mineralization technique for the RWGS reaction. The excellent Cu dispersions (7 nm at ca. 30 wt% Cu) along with the resilience toward metal sintering attained in the entire catalysts series highlight one-pot decomposition of cellulose under reducing atmosphere as an excellent synthesis method which enable obtaining well-dispersed Cu nanoparticles. The influence of incorporating a second metal oxide over biomorphic mineralized Cu systems was also investigated. With the Cu-Ce system exhibiting the best catalyst performance of the catalysts’ series, the enhanced catalyst performances were majorly ascribed to the catalysts redox properties. The lineal relationships stablished between oxygen exchange capacity and CO2 conversion rates remarks the employed sequential H2/CO2 cycles as an effective methodology for screening the catalytic performance of Cu catalysts for RWGS reaction.
In this work the economic performance of valorizing the gaseous stream coming from hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of olive tree pruning is presented as a novel strategy to improve the competitiveness of HTC. The valorization of the commonly disregarded gaseous stream produced in this thermochemical treatment was proposed via the Reverse Water–Gas Shift reaction. This allows to obtain syngas for selling and therefore improving the overall economic performance of the process. To this end, three plant sizes were selected (312.5, 625 and 1250 kg/h of biomass processing). The parameters with a higher share in the total cost distribution along with the revenues from the hydrochar and the syngas selling were further evaluated. The results evidenced that with the assumptions taken, the overall process is still not profitable. To reach profitability, syngas selling prices between 2.2 and 3.4 €/m3 are needed, revealing that this proposal is not economically attractive. Alternatively, a lack of competitiveness in the current market is revealed with hydrochar selling prices between 0.41 and 0.64 €/kg to make the project profitable. The catalyst cost, sharing approximately 20% of the total cost, is the parameter with the highest impact in the total economics of the process. The second one is the hydrogen price production, representing almost 16% of the total. Investment subsidies are also examined as a potential tool to cover part of the initial investment. These results evidenced that further efforts and measures are needed to push forward in the path towards circular economy societies.
This study delivers useful understanding towards the design of effective catalytic systems for upgrading real CO2erich residual streams derived from biomass valorization. Within this perspective, a catalysts' series based on (5 wt%) Cu - (X wt%) Mn/Al2O3with X¼0, 3, 8, and 10 is employed. The improved catalyst performance achieved through Mn incorporation is ascribed to enhanced Cu dispersions and promoted surface basic concentrations. Under standard RWGS conditions, the highest reaction rates achieved by(5 wt%) Cu - (8 wt%) Mn/Al2O3catalyst were associated to improved Cu dispersions along with the constitution of highly active Cu-MnOxdomains. Remarkably, variations on the optimal Cu to Mn ratios were detected as a function of the RWGS reaction conditions. Thus, under simulated CO2-rich residual feedstock's, i.e., in presence of CO and CH4, the further promotion on the Cu dispersion attained by the larger amounts of MnOxrendered the (5 wt%) Cu - (10 wt%) Mn/Al2O3catalyst as the best performing sample. Overall, the presented outcomes underline operative strategies for developing catalytic systems with advanced implementation potentialities.
Profitability studies are needed to establish the potential pathways required for viable biomethane production in the Brandenburg region of Germany. This work study the profitability of a potential biomethane production plant in the eastern German region of Brandenburg, through a specific practical scenario with data collected from a regional biogas plant located in Alteno (Schradenbiogas GmbH & Co. KG). Several parameters with potential economic influence such as distance of the production point to the grid, waste utilization percentage, and investment, were analyzed. The results illustrate a negative overall net present value with the scenario of no governmental investment, even when considering trading the CO2 obtained throughout the process. Subsidies needed to reach profitability varied with distance from 13.5 €/MWh to 19.3 €/MWh. For a fixed distance of 15 kms, the importance of percentage of waste utilization was examined. Only 100% of waste utilization and 75% of waste utilization would reach profitability under a reasonable subsidies scheme (16.3 and 18.8 €/MWh respectively). Concerning the importance of investment, a subsidized investment of at least 70% is demanded for positive net present values. Besides, the sensitivity analysis remarks the energy consumption of the biogas upgrading stage, the electricity price, and the energy consumption of biogas production as major parameters to be tackled for the successful implementation of biogas upgrading plants. The results here obtained invite to ponder about potential strategies to further improve the economic viability of this kind of renewable projects. In this line, using the CO2 separated to produce added-value chemicals can be an interesting alternative.
For a bio-economy establishment, understanding the energy consumption needs to produce solid biofuels is a key point. Herein, olive tree pruning was treated by both dry (pyrolysis and torrefaction) and wet (hydrothermal carbonization) thermal treatments. Product yield, solid quality and energy consumption were assessed. The solids were characterized by means of chemical and thermogravimetric analysis. For all treatments, coal-like solid products were obtained, with higher heating values (HHV) of almost 30 MJ kg−1 in most of the conditions evaluated. Chars from pyrolysis presented the greater carbon content (between 76 and 85 wt%) but also the higher ash content (ranging from 6 to 9 wt%). From an energy consumption perspective, torrefaction registered the lowest energy consumption (between 5.85 and 20.76 MJ kg−1 char). The highest energy contents per kilogram of char produced were also reflected in torrefaction samples, with values around 11 MJ kg−1 char. Although the obtained HHVs were greater for pyrolysis chars the higher mass yields obtained in torrefaction makes it more profitable. The least severe conditions allowed to obtain a positive energy balance only with the solid phase considered. Nonetheless, further room for improvement is possible since the gas and liquid phases may also be valorised.
Assessing the impact of textural properties in Ni–Fe catalysts for CO2 methanation performance
(2021)
In heterogeneous catalysis, the benefits of employing adequate textural properties on the catalytic performances are usually stated. Nevertheless, the quantification of the extent of improvement is not an easy task since variations on the catalysts’ specific areas and pore structures might involve modifications on a number of other
surface catalytic features. This study establishes the impact of the catalyst textural properties on the CO2 methanation performance by investigating bimetallic Ni–Fe catalysts supported over carbon supports with different textural properties regarding surface area and pore structure. The comparable metal loading and dispersions
attained for all systems enabled establishing forthright relationships between the catalyst textural properties and CO2 methanation rate. Once the influence of the external mass diffusions on the catalysts’ performance was experimentally discarded, the estimated Thiele modulus and internal effectiveness (φ and ηEff) values showed that the catalyst performance was majorly governed by the surface reaction rate whilst the pore size affected in no significant manner within the examined range (Dpore = 10.2 to 5.8 nm). Therefore, the rapport
between the catalyst performance and surface area was quantified for the CO2 methanation reaction over Ni–Fe catalysts: increasing the surface area from 572 to 802 m2/g permit obtaining ca. 10% higher CO2 conversions.