Enabling Process Intensification by 3 D Printing of Catalytic Structures

Abstract

Small-scale, intensified chemical reactors (i.e., process intensification) mediated by structured catalysts substantially diminishes the advantages of large-scale gas-to-liquid (transport fuels) process plants and can be realized at low capital costs, minimum energy consumption, and zero/small CO2 footprints. Current structured-catalysts approaches are complex and expensive; therefore, simple methods are crucial that are capable of depositing a desired geometry of catalysts into engineered channels. Herein, we developed printable composition by incorporating nickel and molybdenum ions into water-soluble PVA and starch; the subsequent pyrolysis of organic compounds resulted into three-dimensional carbon scaffold with micro/macro interconnected pores (dpore, 6.5 Å; dpore, 100 μm) containing up to 25 wt % catalyst loading. 2 D (TEM, SEM) and 3D (X-ray computed tomography) microstructural analyses and catalytic tests (conversion of syngas to alcohols) were performed for 3 D printed catalysts and compared with conventional pelleted catalysts. At a high feed flow rate (6000 h−1), CO conversion is rapidly reduced to 16 mol % for pelleted catalysts, whereas 3 D printed catalysts converted 35 mol % of CO, with the same catalyst loading.