(35g) Effect of Catalyst Layer Deposition Method On Partial Oxidation of Liquid Hydrocarbons in the Presence of Oxygen-Conducting Supports

The application of oxide catalyst layers to supports with oxygen-conducting properties provides opportunities for greatly improved performance in reforming liquid hydrocarbons for solid oxide fuel cell applications. In particular, fuel feeds that contain sulfur and aromatic contaminants present the greatest challenges as these species will deactivate metal catalysts through poisoning and carbon formation. By substituting the active metal into an oxide structure that is stable at the high temperatures used in reforming, and supporting it on an oxygen-conducting support (OCS), deactivation due to thermal sintering and carbon formation can be greatly minimized. Because the active metal is not present in isolated clusters that are subject to sulfur poisoning, deactivation due poisoning is avoided.

The synthesis of the catalyst of interest here requires preparation of fine particles of the active metal oxide and dispersion of these particles on the OCS such that there is intimate contact between the particles and the OCS. Here, the catalytically active oxide layer is barium hexaaluminate substituted with 3wt% Ni; the OCS support is doped ceria. The performances of these systems for the partial oxidation of n-tetradecane, containing sulfur and aromatics, are compared to Ni metal catalyst over alumina, and bulk Ni-substituted barium hexaaluminates (BNHA), for the production of a H2 and CO rich stream.