The development and characterization of methanol decomposition catalysts

Book · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6848196

Logsdon, B W

The effect of catalyst doping was investigated using 2% and 3% palladium catalysts. The dopant was found to have a significant effect on the activity, selectivity, and thermal stability of the catalysts. The lithium, sodium, and barium-doped catalysts deactivated when exposed to a thermal cycle, whereas, the rubidium, cesium, and lanthanum-doped catalysts did not. Catalyst doping generally resulted in a decrease in the initial catalyst activity. This varied from a small decrease for the lanthana-doped catalyst to a large decrease for the alkali-doped catalysts. Selectivity for CO and H{sub 2} was increased by doping due to the neutralization of acid sites on the alumina. To avoid the use of large quantities of rare materials in the catalysts, two approaches were taken: (1) Development of a catalyst using 0.5% Pd, and (2) development of a base metal catalyst. Lowering the palladium content of the catalysts resulted in severe deactivation of all catalysts. The base metal catalyst development showed iron, cobalt and copper catalysts to be unacceptable due to severe deactivation. Nickel catalysts operating under the proper conditions were found to be adequate methanol decomposition catalysts. A final study demonstrated the feasibility of developing a high temperature methanol decomposition catalysts for use in hypersonic aircraft. The second phase of the study was the characterization of the palladium catalysts. Chemisorption results indicated that the palladium dispersion was affected by the dopant. The dispersion of the palladium, however, cannot account for the variation in the initial catalyst activity. CO{sub 2} thermal desorption results indicated that the alkali metal dopants effectively neutralized the acidic sites on the alumina support and produced a basic surface.

• Research Organization: Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6848196
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010408 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- C1 Processes-- (1987-)
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
100400 -- Synthetic Fuels-- Combustion-- (1990-)
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330800* -- Emission Control-- Alternative Fuels
AIRCRAFT
ALCOHOLS
ALKALI METALS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BARIUM
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON DIOXIDE
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CATALYSTS
CATALYTIC EFFECTS
CESIUM
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISORPTION
COBALT
COPPER
DEACTIVATION
DECOMPOSITION
DESORPTION
DOPED MATERIALS
ELEMENTS
FUELS
HYDROGEN
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
IRON
LANTHANUM
LITHIUM
MATERIALS
METALS
METHANOL
NICKEL
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALLADIUM
PLATINUM METALS
RARE EARTHS
RUBIDIUM
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SODIUM
SORPTION
STABILITY
TRANSITION ELEMENTS