Butane-To-Syngas Processing in Novel Micro-Reactors

This work investigates the production of syngas from§butane by rhodium doped ceria/zirconia nanoparticles.§The main issue of this study is to improve the§catalytic performance at intermediate temperatures of§550°C.§In the range of 500 to 600°C, a packed bed reactor§with catalyst nanoparticles of 2.0 wt% Rh loading and§silica-based plugs achieves nearly complete butane§conversion with a hydrogen yield of 77%. In a next§step, the production of syngas from butane is§investigated by using a disk-shaped packed bed§reactor containing Rh/ceria/zirconia nanoparticles at§550°C. Disk-shaped reactors achieve high hydrogen§(92%) and carbon monoxide (82%) selectivities and§complete butane conversion. This increased catalytic§performance is due to a remarkably high contribution§of Steam Reforming and Dry Reforming following Total§Oxidation next to initial Partial Oxidation. Finally,§a novel method is introduced to fabricate a ceramic§foam containing catalytic nanoparticles by a direct§and one-step sol-gelation procedure. §The present dissertation proves that the catalyst is§well suited to provide small portable butane§processing units for applications in combination with§micro fuel cells.