A Novel Catalyst Improves Hydrogen Production in a Membrane Reactor

J. MÚNERA, M. KIHN, C. CARRARA, S. IRUSTA, L. M. CORNAGLIA, E. A. LOMBARDO

Paris

Congreso; 13th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON CATALYST; 2004

The dry reforming of methane as a source of H2 has been performed using a commercial Ni catalyst and supported Ru, Pd, Ir and Pt catalysts in a hydrogen-permeable membrane reactor. The main problems encountered in this application are the abundant formation of coke, deleterious to the membrane [1], and catalyst deactivation. Appropriate catalysts preventing carbon deposits formation are needed to avoid membrane damage. In a previous study [2], we reported that the CH4 conversion can be greatly improved by removing the hydrogen formed using a stable Pd-Ag membrane. In this work, we report the results obtained with a novel catalyst, Rh/La2O3-SiO2 [3], and with Rh/La2O3. Both the fresh and used catalysts were characterized by DRX, FTIR, BET, Laser Raman spectroscopy and hydrogen chemisorption. The effect of the operation variables upon the performance of the membrane reactor were also studied.