Title: Hydrogen production by catalytic methane decomposition and catalyst regeneration by oxygen mixtures in fluidised and fixed bed reactors

Authors: Giovanna Ruoppolo, Paola Ammendola

Addresses: Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione (IRC-CNR), P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy. ' Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione (IRC-CNR), P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy

Abstract: In the present paper, the Thermo-Catalytic Decomposition (TCD) of methane has been investigated in a laboratory-scale bubbling fluidised bed reactor using copper dispersed on γ-alumina as a catalyst. The usefulness of a fluidised bed operation instead of a fixed bed operation has been assessed in terms of methane-to-hydrogen conversion and the amount of carbon accumulated on the catalyst. The possibility of carrying out a two-stage operation for hydrogen production from methane TCD in fluidised bed reactors, which consists of operating the fluidised bed as a reactor for methane decomposition until a defined catalyst deactivation degree is achieved and then operating the fluidised bed as a combustor for catalyst regeneration by carbon oxidation, has also been investigated. The typical behaviours of fluidised bed reactors contribute to the opportunity to adopt such a regeneration strategy on the basis of the performances obtained with catalyst regeneration by means of carbon combustion in fixed and fluidised bed reactors.

Keywords: hydrogen production; methane decomposition; catalyst regeneration; carbon oxidation; fluidised bed reactors; fixed bed reactors; thermo-catalytic decomposition.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNHPA.2009.023823

International Journal of Nuclear Hydrogen Production and Applications, 2009 Vol.2 No.1, pp.4 - 20

Published online: 13 Mar 2009 *

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