Utilization of Synthetic Steel Gases in an Additively Manufactured Reactor for Catalytic Methanation

Abstract

The path to European climate neutrality by 2050 will require comprehensive changes in all areas of life. For large industries such as steelworks, this results in the need for climate-friendly technologies. However, the age structure of existing steelworks makes transitional solutions such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) necessary as short-term measures. Hence, a purposeful option is the integration of technical syntheses such as methanation into the overall process. This work summarizes hydrogen-intensified methanation experiments with synthetic steel gases in the novel additively manufactured reactor ‘ADDmeth1′. The studies include steady-state operating points at various reactor loads. Blast furnace gas (BFG), basic oxygen furnace gas (BOFG) and three mixtures of these two gases serve as carbon sources. The methanation achieved methane yields of 93.5% for BFG and 95.0% for BOFG in the one-stage once-through setup. The results suggest a kinetic limitation in the case of BFG methanation, while an equilibrium limitation is likely for BOFG. There is a smooth transition in all respects between the two extreme cases. The reaction channel inlet temperature ϑin showed a large influence on the reactor ignition behavior. By falling below the threshold value, a blow-off occurred during experimental operation. By means of a simulation model, practical operating maps were created which characterize permissible operating ranges for ϑin as a function of the gas composition and the reactor load.

Hydrogen intensified synthesis processes to valorise process off-gases in integrated steelworks

“…The final developed methane production reactors were respectively an additively manufactured structured fixedbed reactor (Fig. 2a) by Chair of Energy Process Engineering, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg [27,28] (REAC1) and a reactor setup using wash-coated honeycomb monoliths as catalyst (Fig. 2b) by Chair of Process Technology and Industrial Environmental Protection, Montanuniversität Leoben [29] (REAC2).…”

“…A bench-scale reactor prototype, namely ADDmeth1 (Fig. 2a), was implemented; methanation of BFG and BOFG was successfully demonstrated achieving respectively 93.5% and 95.0% methane yields in single-stage process [35]. Kinetic and equilibrium limitations were observed respectively for BFG and BOFG.…”

“…Fig.2. Cutting-edge i 3 upgrade reactors: (a) Addmeth1 additively manufactured structured fixed-bed methane synthesis reactor[27,28]. (b) Honeycomb three stage methane reactor[29].…”