Plasma-Catalytic Process of Hydrogen Production from Mixture of Methanol and Water

Abstract

In the present work the process of hydrogen production was conducted in the plasma-catalytic reactor, the substrates were first treated with plasma and then introduced into the catalyst bed. Plasma was produced by a spark discharge. The discharge power ranged from 15 to 46 W. The catalyst was metallic nickel supported on Al2O3. The catalyst was active from a temperature of 400 °C. The substrate flow rate was 1 mol/h of water and 1 mol/h of methanol. The process generated H2, CO, CO2 and CH4. The gas which formed the greatest amount was H2. Its concentration in the gas was ~60%. The conversion of methanol and the production of hydrogen in the plasma-catalytic reactor were higher than in the plasma and catalytic reactors. The synergy effect of the interaction of two environments, i.e., plasma and the catalyst, was observed. The highest hydrogen production was 1.38 mol/h and the highest methanol conversion was 64%. The increased in the discharge power resulted in increasing methanol conversion and hydrogen production.

A Promising Cobalt Catalyst for Hydrogen Production

“…Therefore, it is difficult to conclude whether the correlation between the simultaneous presence of oxygen and carbon results from the facilitated deposition of coke on the cobalt oxide or the difficult access of hydrogen to the surface covered with coke. The carbon structures of the whisker structures, previously reported by G. Słowik et al [22] and by our group for the plasma-catalytic process [24], were not observed.…”

“…The obtained metal catalyst had a specific surface area of 1.75 m 2 /g determined by nitrogen adsorption isotherm analysis using the BET isotherm (Brunauer−Emmett−Teller). This method was presented in our earlier articles [2,24]. The catalyst topography was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and its elemental composition was analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX).…”

“…The catalyst topography was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and its elemental composition was analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). These methods were presented in our earlier article [24]. Figures 1-4 show the catalyst surface and the distribution of elements before and after 20 h of operation.…”

“…The molar feed flow rate ranged from 0.4 to 1.2 mol/h. The methods and apparatus used in the catalyst activity tests were described in detail in our previous works [2,24,34,35].…”

Towards Catalysts Prepared by Cold Plasma

“…Although several changes in the composition of the catalyst surface were observed as a result of the plasma-catalysis process, these changes were not shown to have an effect on the toluene conversion. In turn, Ulejczyk et al [16] presented interesting results on the plasma-catalytic hydrogen production from a mixture of methanol and water in a spark discharge reactor using metallic Ni on Al 2 O 3 as a catalyst. Although the process is carried out in the "remote plasma" mode and, for example, no changes in the Ni dispersion were observed, some differences between the surface of the fresh and the used catalyst were revealed here.…”