Production of methane from carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in a plasma-catalytic combined reactor system

Abstract

Plasma-catalytic hydrogenation of CO and CO2 for producing methane was investigated with a catalyst-packed dielectric barrier discharge reactor. The characteristics of methane production from CO/H2 or CO2/H2 gas mixture were examined with bare alumina, TiO2/alumina, Ni/alumina, and Ni-TiO2/alumina under plasma and non-plasma conditions. The results obtained with bare alumina and TiO 2/alumina suggest that either plasma-induced gas-phase reactions or photocatalytic reactions hardly contribute to the conversion of CO and CO 2. The nonthermal plasma was found to have a promotive effect on the conversion of CO and CO2 only when nickel-loaded catalysts such as Ni/alumina and Ni-TiO2/alumina were used, implying that the nonthermal plasma serves to promote the dissociation of carbon-oxygen bonds of CO and CO2 adsorbed on the active sites of the catalysts, known as the slowest step of the reaction. © 2013 WIT Press.