Partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas using LnCoO{sub 3} perovskites as catalyst precursors

Journal Article · Tue Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1997 · Journal of Catalysis

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/jcat.1997.1580· OSTI ID:563511

Lago, R; Pena, M A; Fierro, J L.G. ^[1]

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1. Instituto de Catalisis y Petroleoquimica, Madrid (Spain); and others

In this work, a series of cobalt-containing perovskites LnCoO{sub 3} (Ln = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Gd) has been studied as catalyst precursors for the partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas. All the perovskite precursors were prereduced in situ, producing cobalt metal finely dispersed over the rare earth sesquioxide support described here as Ln-Co-O. Of the catalyst tested, the system Gd-Co-O showed exceptionally better performance for CO and H{sub 2} production (with methane conversion of 73% and selectivities of 79 and 81% for CO and H{sub 2}, respectively, at 1009 K). The production of synthesis gas over the other catalysts decreased in the following order: Sm-Co-O {much_gt} Nd-Co-O > Pr-Co-O. The catalyst La-Co-O was active for methane combustion and only traces of CO and H{sub 2} were observed under the reaction conditions. Based on results obtained here, it is proposed that the deactivation of the catalysts Ln-Co-O by reoxidation of cobalt metal is related to the thermodynamic stability of the parent perovskite structure. The authors also present evidence that hydroxyl groups on the rare earth oxide, specially in the La-Co-O system, might make some contribution to the reoxidation of cobalt metal during the reaction via a reverse spillover process. 48 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 563511
• Journal Information: Journal of Catalysis, Journal Name: Journal of Catalysis Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 167; ISSN JCTLA5; ISSN 0021-9517
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
40 CHEMISTRY
CATALYST SUPPORTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CHEMICAL PREPARATION
COBALT COMPOUNDS
HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSIS
METHANE
OXIDES
PARTIAL OXIDATION PROCESSES
PHOTOELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
RARE EARTH COMPOUNDS
SYNTHESIS GAS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION