Development of a cordierite monolith reactor coated with CeO2-supported BaSrCo-based perovskite for chemical looping steam methane reforming

Abstract

Perovskite oxide is a potential oxygen carrier for chemical looping steam methane reforming (CL-SMR). According to our previous study, CeO2-supported Ba1-xSrxCoO3-δ perovskite exhibited high oxygen capacity and good reactivity in CL-SMR. However, powder samples faced some difficulties in CL-SMR. In this study, a series of cordierite monolith reactors coated with Ba1-xSrxCoO3-δ/CeO2 were prepared for CL-SMR. The CL-SMR reaction performance of the monolith oxygen carriers was tested in a fixed bed, and the temperature and the flow field of the reaction process were simulated using the computational fluid dynamics model. Results showed that the introduction of honeycomb ceramics (cordierite) could effectively inhibit the methane pyrolysis and the carbon deposition in the later stage during the partial oxidation of methane and ensure that the H2/CO ratio of syngas was close to the theoretical value of 2. The gas velocity was uniform in the monolith reactors and only a maximum temperature difference of about 1.5 K appeared in the central region of monolith reactor during partial oxidation of methane. The novel cordierite monolith reactor coated with perovskite oxide provided a promising oxygen carrier choice for the industrial application of CL-SMR.