Dry Reforming Of Biogas To Syngas And Hydrogen For Fuel Cell Applications

Production of synthesis gas and H2 via catalytic dry reforming of a biogas-mimicking gaseous mixture containing CH4/CO2 and H2S was studied. Two types of catalysts, i.e., noble metal (NM) catalysts (alumina-supported Ru, Pt, Rh, Ir, Pd) and Ni-catalysts were examined. Ru, Ir, and Pt catalysts showed high activity and selectivity for CO2 reforming of CH4 and good stability. Ni-based catalysts showed poor selectivity. The resulting synthesis gas was free of unconverted CH4, and it was further processed via water gas shift reaction to H2-CO2 mixtures. The synthesis gas was found suitable as a fuel for molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells. Hydrogen was subsequently recovered from the H2-CO2 mixtures. The use of a pressure-swing adsorption system for the separation of the H2-CO2 mixture would produce H2 with the purity of ≥ 99.999 % that is suitable for the operation of a polymer membrane electrolyte fuel cell. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the AiChE Spring National Meeting & 5th Global Congress on Process Safety (Tampa, FL 4/26-30/2009)