FeCrAl as a Catalyst Support

Abstract

The iron-chromium-aluminum alloy (FeCrAl) is an exceptional support for highly exothermic and endothermic reactions that operate above 700 °C in chemically aggressive environments, where low heat and mass transfer rates limit reaction yield. FeCrAl two-and three-dimensional structured networksmonoliths, foams, and fibersmaximize mass transfer rates, while their remarkable thermal conductivity minimizes hot spots and thermal gradients. Another advantage of the open FeCrAl structure is the low pressure drop due to the high void fraction and regularity of the internal path. The surface Al 2 O 3 layer, formed after an initial thermal oxidation, supports a wide range of metal and metal oxide active phases. The aluminum oxide that adheres to the metal surface protects it from corrosive atmospheres and carbon (carburization), thus allowing FeCrAl to operate at a higher temperature. The top applications are industrial burners, in which compact knitted metal fibers distribute heat over large surface areas, and automotive tail gas converters. Future applications include producing H 2 and syngas from remote natural gas in modular units. This Review summarizes the specific preparation techniques, details process operating conditions and catalyst performance of several classes of reactions, and highlights positive and challenging aspects of FeCrAl.

A Numerical Investigation of Electrically-Heated Methane Steam Reforming Over Structured Catalysts

“…Monoliths and open-cell foams are readymanufactured with different materials, among those some of them are well known for their thermal and electrical properties and have been successfully applied as catalyst supports for conventional catalytic applications. In particular silicon carbide open-cell foams and honeycombs have been already employed in catalytic processes (Quintanilla et al, 2018;Ricca et al, 2019), as well as stainless steel foams and honeycombs (Pauletto et al, 2020). A different note should be reported for copper: open-cell foams have been successfully manufactured and tested in similar applications (Balzarotti et al, 2020), whereas technological limitations are present for copper honeycombs unless very large channel geometries are considered, therefore copper honeycombs were not considered in this work.…”

Catalytic Upgrading of Clean Biogas to Synthesis Gas

“…The conventional preparation method of structured catalysts is the washcoating of ready-made catalysts [188]. However, some alternative methods have been also described, and some of them applied to prepare honeycomb-based biogas reforming catalysts.…”

Performance of AISI 316L-stainless steel foams towards the formation of graphene related nanomaterials by catalytic decomposition of methane at high temperature

“…A solution to avoid these operational problems is the use of structured catalysts as monoliths, foams or membranes, because the mass and heat transfer rates in these type of devices is significantly enhanced [12][13][14][15][16], and moreover the pressure drop is decreased, especially in the case of open foams [17,18].…”