INCAPE   05401
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES EN CATALISIS Y PETROQUIMICA "ING. JOSE MIGUEL PARERA"
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The Role of Membrane Reactors in the Production and Purification of Hydrogen. CONFERENCIA PLENARIA
Autor/es:
E.A. LOMBARDO
Lugar:
Río de Janeiro, Brasil
Reunión:
Congreso; 15 Congresso Brasileiro de Catálise, 5º Congresso de Catálise do Mercosul; 2009
Resumen:
The availability of hydrogen at competitive costs is the most important factor controlling its use as an energy vector. Natural gas or ethanol reforming and coal gasification produce a H2-rich gas mixture containing carbon oxides and other undesirable minor components. Therefore, an expensive purification train is needed to obtain H2 suitable for use in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells. If it were possible to produce this pure H2 containing a few ppms of carbon oxides in just one vessel, the cost of the overall process could be significantly reduced. Alternatively, if CO2 sequestration is needed, a two-vessel arrangement and adequate reactions could generate two streams, one rich in CO2 and the other containing ultrapure H2. These and other options are the driving forces behind the efforts presently being made to develop competitive membrane reactors to produce and purify hydrogen.   Two key components are needed to develop high-performance devices: i) Highly H2-selective and durable membranes; ii) Catalysts that fulfill the requirements imposed by the presence of such membranes, which are different from those required in conventional reactors. These requirements will be illustrated using natural gas reforming, combined reforming (O2, CH4 and CO2 as feed) and water gas shift reaction conducted in membrane reactors as examples. The different membrane reactor features needed for these applications will be discussed.  This presentation provides a description of the latest studies of our group concerning catalyst development, membrane reactor performance and Pd-Ag composites synthesis.