Structured Ni-CeO₂-Al₂O₃/Ni-foam catalyst with enhanced heat transfer for substitute natural gas production by syngas methanation

Concerns about the clean utilization of coal and the development of sustainable energy have provided a particular impetus for the exploration into the production of substitute natural gas (SNG) by syngas methanation in some parts of world. Owing to heat-transfer limitations, current SNG technology based on a series of fixed-bed reactors packed with oxide-supported Ni catalysts suffers from issues such as high costs, low efficiency, and catalyst sintering. We report a monolithic Ni-Ce-Al₂O₃/Ni-foam catalyst obtainable by modified wet-chemical etching of Ni foam. Such a catalyst, with significantly enhanced heat transfer, is highly active, highly selective, and very stable for syngas methanation. Computational fluid dynamics calculations and experimental measurements consistently show a large reduction in the "hotspot" temperature in the Ni-foam-structured catalyst bed owing to high thermal conductivity. We anticipate that our approach will open a new opportunity for next-generation SNG plant design.