Catalyst Deactivation of Rh-Coated Foam Monolith for Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Methane

Abstract

The catalyst deactivation behavior of rhodium-coated foam monolith was systematically investigated in order to understand the means to improve the durability of the rhodium catalyst applied for catalytic partial oxidation of methane (CPOM). The overall CPOM reactions on the foam structured catalyst have been acknowledged to take place first in an oxidation zone and thereafter in a reforming zone. Severe metal sintering near the entrance of the structured catalyst (i.e., in the oxidation zone) was identified to be responsible for the observed deactivation of rhodium catalyst in the course of a 1000 h time-on-stream test under quasi-adiabatic conditions. Further analyses on the deactivation process indicated that the reaction pathway in the oxidation zone near the entrance can be summarized by a mixed mechanism, that is, two oxidation reactions and one reforming reaction, where H2 is the indirect product of steam reforming of the unreacted CH4. Detailed studies on the dependence of the catalyst stability on...