Nanoparticle Catalytic Enhancement of Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane for Hydrogen Production Nicholas Groden
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Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech Digital Commons Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School Fall 11-17-2018 Nanoparticle Catalytic Enhancement of Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane for Hydrogen Production Nicholas Groden Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/dissertations Part of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons, Other Chemical Engineering Commons, and the Other Materials Science and Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Groden, Nicholas, "" (2018). Dissertation. 3. https://digitalcommons.latech.edu/dissertations/3 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Louisiana Tech Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Louisiana Tech Digital Commons. NANOPARTICLE CATALYTIC ENHANCEMENT OF CARBON DIOXIDE REFORMING OF METHANE FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION by Nicholas Groden, M.S., B.S. A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree Doctor of Philosophy COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY November 2018 LOUISIANA TECH UNIVERSITY THE GRADUATE SCHOOL JUNE 16, 2018 Date We hereby recommend that the dissertation prepared under our supervision by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Nicholas Groden, M.S., B.S. entitled Nanoparticle Catalytic Enhancement of Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Carbon Dioxide Reforming of Methane for Hydrogen Production be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Micro and Nanoscale Systems Supervisor of Dissertation Research Head of Department Department Recommendation concurred in: _____________________________ _____________________________ Advisory Committee _____________________________ _____________________________ Approved: Approved: __________________________________ ______________________________ Director of Graduate Studies Dean of the Graduate School __________________________________ Dean of the College GS Form 13 (8/10) ABSTRACT The U.S. produces 5559.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, of which 21% is produced by industrial processes. Steam reforming, an industrial process that accounts for 95% of all hydrogen production in industry, produces 134.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide or around 11% of the total carbon dioxide produced by industry. This carbon dioxide is then either emitted or goes through a sequestration process that accounts for 75% of the plant's operational costs. An alternative reaction to steam reforming is dry reforming, which utilizes carbon dioxide rather than emitting it and can be used in conjunction with current steam reforming to remove costs associated with sequestration. Dry reforming is not used in industry due to its higher energy requirements and lower catalyst life due to carbon deposition. To reduce energy requirements and extend the life of the dry reforming catalyst, nanostructured heterogenous metals and ceramics made from an electrospinning process and graphene nanoscrolls made through a bulk electrochemical method are proposed as a catalyst and highly sensitive chemiresistive sensors to monitor precise gas quantities within the reaction without the need for extra energy supplied to them. This dissertation explores the use of nanostructured heterogeneous metals and nonmetals as more resilient catalysts and supports for the dry reforming technique. To reduce the energy required for dry reforming, catalysts were fabricated through an electrospinning process and used nickel as the primary catalyst due to its high activity and iii iv low cost. Iron was used within the nanofibers to create a redox side reaction to decrease the solid carbon formation on the surface of the catalysts showing higher reactivity after 15 hours of reaction. Electrospun magnesium aluminate spinels ceramics were studied as a support and found to have excellent stability and reactivity, achieving an 83% lower apparent activation energy than nickel catalysts alone. To reduce coking on the surface of the catalyst, graphene nanoscrolls were fabricated using a scalable electrochemical exfoliation technique and used as supports in the dry reforming reaction to nickel nanoparticles. They were found to have similar properties to carbon nanotube supports reported in previous literature and a 30% lower coking amount than traditional nickel catalysts after 15 hours and 12% lower apparent activation energy than traditional nickel catalysts. Finally, to be able to precisely monitor gas evolution, the electrospun metal nanofibers and graphene nanoscrolls were used as sensing elements in a polyaniline doped gas sensor. These sensors were tested at room temperature with methane, ethanol gas and acetone gas and found to have responses over 100% higher than polyaniline alone. Combined, catalytic nanofibers and graphene nanoscroll supports have been shown to lower the apparent activation energy requirements and resist carbon deposition induced deactivation on the catalyst while allowing for a passive sensing material, offering a pathway forward towards an economically viable dry reforming process. APPROVAL FOR SCHOLARLY DISSEMINATION The author grants to the Prescott Memorial Library of Louisiana Tech University the right to reproduce, by appropriate methods, upon request, any or all portions of this Dissertation. It is understood that “proper request” consists of the agreement, on the part of the requesting party, that said reproduction is for his personal use and that subsequent reproduction will not occur without written approval of the author of this Dissertation. Further, any portions of the Dissertation used in books, papers, and other works must be appropriately referenced to this Dissertation. Finally, the author of this Dissertation reserves the right to publish freely, in the literature, at any time, any or all portions of this Dissertation. Author _____________________________ Date _____________________________ GS Form 14 (8/10) DEDICATION For my grandparents, who helped set me on this path, and my parents, who saw me through. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... iii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. x LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. xviii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Motivation for Research ................................................................................. 2 1.1.2 Objectives of Dissertation ............................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2 DRY REFORMING REACTION LITERATURE REVIEW .................... 10 2.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 10 2.2 History of Reforming ........................................................................................ 10 2.3 Reforming Reactions ........................................................................................ 14 2.3.1 Methane Reforming ...................................................................................... 15 2.3.2 Steam Reforming .......................................................................................... 16 2.3.3 Partial Oxidation ........................................................................................... 17 2.3.4 Autothermal Reforming ................................................................................ 18 2.3.5 Dry Reforming .............................................................................................. 18 2.4 Coke Formation ................................................................................................ 22 2.5 Role of Support ................................................................................................. 25 2.6 Role of the Catalytic Material ........................................................................... 28 vii viii 2.6.1 Nanostructured Catalysts .............................................................................. 31 CHAPTER 3 NANOFIBER METAL CATALYSTS....................................................... 38 3.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 38 3.2 Nanofiber Catalyst Fabrication ......................................................................... 39 3.2.1 Electrospinning Theory ................................................................................. 39 3.2.2 Electrospun Nanofiber Fabrication ............................................................... 43 3.3 Characterization of Nanofibers ......................................................................... 45 3.4 Quantification of Reaction Efficiency .............................................................. 50 3.4.1 Nickel Catalyst Tests ...................................................................................