Modelling of autothermal biogas reforming over Ni-based catalysts supported on SiC foams for fuel cell applications

摘要

Biogas is a complex gas mixture primarily composed of methane and carbon dioxide, which is produced by anaerobic digestion of biomass. Biogas can be reformed into hydrogen-rich syngas for fuel-cell applications. In this study, autothermal reforming (ATR) of model biogas was performed. Previous screening of catalysts for this reaction led to the selection of a Ni-Rh/MgAl2O4 catalyst, which showed a stable performance over more than 300 hours [1]. SiC foams are promising catalyst supports for small size ATR units. They have excellent thermal characteristics and low pressure drops, permitting a very compact reformer. For a better reformer design a kinetic model of the biogas ATR reaction is highly desirable. Several kinetic models for methane reforming are available in the literature but only a few models exist for methane ATR [2], [3]. In this study, a kinetic model was developed for the ATR of model biogas over SiC foams coated with a 15-0.05wt.% Ni-Rh/MgAl2O4 catalyst.