Performance of Hydroxyapatite-Supported Catalysts for Methane Production Via CO2 Hydrogenation on Semi-Pilot Scale

• Published in: Waste and biomass valorization Vol. 14; no. 10; pp. 3429 - 3444
• Main Authors: Medeiros, Fábio Gonçalves Macêdo de, Farzi, Farbod, Achouri, Ines Esma, Lotfi, Samira, Rego de Vasconcelos, Bruna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Catalysts; Conversion; Engineering; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Fossil fuels; Greenhouse gases; Hydrogenation; Hydroxyapatite; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Low temperature; Methane; Original Paper; Renewable and Green Energy; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Methane; Nickel catalysts; Hydroxyapatite; CO; hydrogenation; Low-carbon energy vectors
• ISSN: 1877-2641; 1877-265X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12649-023-02106-7

Low-carbon methane (CH 4 ) obtained from CO 2 hydrogenation is a promising option for reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from carbon-intensive fossil fuel-based energy production, but catalytic performance, especially in low temperatures, still needs to be improved before large-scale implementation. In this work, it is proposed the use of hydroxyapatite (HAP) as an alternative catalyst support to validate its performance for CO 2 hydrogenation to CH 4 . In addition, for the first time in literature, the influence of process conditions (temperature, gas hourly space velocity and Ni metal load) on the performance of HAP-supported catalysts is investigated on semi-pilot scale. CO 2 conversion is favored up to 400 °C, despite the thermodynamic limitations of the hydrogenation reaction. Ni-based catalysts present the best performance for CO 2 hydrogenation with a maximum CO 2 conversion around 88% under optimized conditions (20 wt.% Ni, T = 350 °C, GHSV = 320 h −1 ) with 100% CH 4 selectivity and no CO production up to 450 °C. Finally, long-term operation of 20Ni/HAP for 50 h on semi-pilot scale shows a robust performance with 83% CO 2 conversion, 100% CH 4 selectivity and no signs of catalyst deactivation. The performance HAP-based catalyst presented here demonstrates the feasibility of HAP as alternative catalyst support for CO 2 hydrogenation and the potential for process upscaling with HAP-supported catalysts. Graphical Abstract