CO hydrogenation combined with water-gas-shift reaction for synthetic natural gas production: a thermodynamic and experimental study

The hydrogenation of CO to synthetic natural gas (SNG) needs a high molar ratio of H2/CO (usually large than 3.0 in industry), which consumes a large abundant of hydrogen. The reverse dry reforming reaction (RDR, 2H2 + 2CO ↔ CH4 + CO2), combining CO methanation with water-gas-shift reaction, can significantly decrease the H2/CO molar ratio to 1 for SNG production. A detailed thermodynamic analysis of RDR reaction was carried out based on the Gibbs free energy minimization method. The effect of temperature, pressure, H2/CO ratio and the addition of H2O, CH4, CO2, O2 and C2H4 into the feed gas on CO conversion, CH4 and CO2 selectivity, as well as CH4 and carbon yield, are discussed. Experimental results obtained on homemade impregnated Ni/Al2O3 catalyst are compared with the calculations. The results demonstrate that low temperature (200–500 °C), high pressure (1–5 MPa) and high H2/CO ratio (at least 1) promote CO conversion and CH4 selectivity and decrease carbon yield. Steam and CO2 in the feed gas decrease the CH4 selectivity and carbon yield, and enhance the CO2 content. Extra CH4 elevates the CH4 content in the products, but leads to more carbon formation at high temperatures. O2 significantly decreases the CH4 selectivity and C2H4 results in the generation of carbon. © 2017, The Author(s).