Collaborative Research: The role of oxide overlayers on adsorbate migration and metal sintering in reactions of CO2

合作研究：氧化物覆盖层对 CO2 反应中吸附物迁移和金属烧结的作用

• 批准号: 2152412
• 负责人: Michael Janik
• 金额: $ 21.23万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-10-01 至 2025-09-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2152412&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; role; oxide; overlayers

Combustion of natural gas (chiefly comprised of methane, i.e., CH4) provides a major portion of our nation’s energy needs. Although methane is a relatively “clean” fossil fuel, its combustion produces carbon dioxide (CO2) which constitutes the major component of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Methane can also be reacted with steam (H2O) to produce carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) in a process known as methane steam reforming. The product CO and H2 gases are further reacted to produce a wide range of fuels and chemicals. The project investigates an alternative approach – “dry” reforming of methane (DRM) - which utilizes captured CO2, rather than steam, to generate CO and H2, thus decreasing the overall GHG inventory. Methane reforming, via any technology, is an energy intensive process. Catalysts are utilized to reduce operating temperatures, improve process efficiency, and drive the reactions to desired products. Dry reforming is even more challenging than steam reforming, thus creating a need for research aimed at identifying more active and selective catalysts that are stable under high-temperature reaction conditions. The project addresses those needs by combining theoretical, computational, and experimental methods to identify effective DRM catalysts. In addition, the project will investigate economics of DRM technology, and incorporate educational and outreach activities exposing high-school and undergraduate students to the field of chemical engineering – so important to the fuels, chemicals, and environmental industries. DRM catalysts must operate at high temperatures, which can destroy carefully designed synthetic structures or promote secondary reactions (e.g., reverse water-gas shift reaction (RWGS) and coke formation) that result in lower value products. One mechanism associated with both the primary and secondary processes is the ability of some catalysts to store and release oxygen during different parts of the cycle. Other catalysts can avoid this oxygen-centric route at the expense of higher activation energies. This work develops hybrid catalysts, using both reducible and non-reducible oxides, to combine the best properties of both in generating highly stable and chemically selective methane reforming catalysts which can be used to operate at industrially relevant conditions. The simultaneous methane reforming and RWGS reactions over ceria catalysts occur through mobile oxygen species. Non-reducible catalyst overlayers have the potential to limit hydrogen spillover from the active metal sites, preventing the unwanted secondary reaction and stabilizing the carefully designed catalyst structure without limiting the role of oxygen in the methane reforming. Using a combination of simulation (density functional theory) and experimental work, the project will develop highly active and structurally stable catalysts while limiting the undesired RWGS, which decreases the H2:CO ratio. However, subsequent reactions to make chemicals require higher H2-to-CO ratios than are possible under standard dry reforming conditions. As such, the optimized hierarchical catalysts will be tested under harsh conditions in the presence of low concentrations of water (i.e., a steam/CO2 “bi-reforming” process) to further increase the H2-to-CO ratio.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

天然气（主要由甲烷组成，即 CH4）的燃烧满足了我国能源需求的主要部分，尽管甲烷是一种相对“清洁”的化石燃料，但其燃烧会产生二氧化碳（CO2），而二氧化碳是温室气体的主要成分。甲烷还可以与蒸汽 (H2O) 反应，在称为甲烷蒸汽重整的过程中产生一氧化碳 (CO) 和氢气 (H2)。该项目研究了一种替代方法——甲烷“干”重整（DRM）——利用捕获的二氧化碳而不是蒸汽来产生二氧化碳和氢气，从而减少二氧化碳的排放。通过任何技术，甲烷重整都是一种能源密集型过程，用于降低操作温度、提高工艺效率并推动反应生成所需产品，这比干重整更具挑战性。该项目通过结合理论、计算和实验方法来确定有效的 DRM 催化剂，从而满足了这些需求。该项目将研究 DRM 技术的经济学，并纳入让高中生和本科生接触化学工程领域的教育和推广活动——对于燃料、化学品和环境行业来说非常重要的 DRM 催化剂必须在高温下运行。可以破坏精心设计的合成结构或促进产生较低价值产品的次级反应（例如逆水煤气变换反应（RWGS）和焦炭形成），与初级和次级过程相关的一种机制是某些催化剂在不同部分储存和释放氧气的能力。其他催化剂可以避免这种以氧为中心的路线，但代价是更高的活化能。这项工作开发了混合催化剂，使用可还原和不可还原的氧化物，以结合两者在产生高度稳定和化学选择性方面的最佳性能。可用于在工业相关条件下运行的甲烷重整和 RWGS 反应通过二氧化铈催化剂通过不可还原的催化剂覆盖层进行，具有限制氢气从活性金属位点溢出的潜力。通过结合模拟（密度泛函理论）和实验工作，该项目将开发出高活性和结构性的催化剂，从而消除不需要的副反应并稳定精心设计的催化剂结构，而不限制氧气在甲烷重整中的作用。稳定的催化剂，同时限制不需要的 RWGS，这会降低 H2:CO 比率。然而，制造化学品的后续反应需要比标准干重整条件下更高的 H2/CO 比率。因此，将测试优化的分级催化剂。在低浓度水存在的恶劣条件下（即蒸汽/二氧化碳“双重整”过程），以进一步提高氢气与二氧化碳的比率。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被视为值得通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。