Novel Catalytic Membrane Micro-reactors for CO2 Capture via Pre-combustion Decarbonisation Route

Innovative solutions are required to develop new systems for CO2 capture. Here, we propose to develop a novel catalytic membrane micro-reactor for capture of CO2 and at the same time producing ultrapure hydrogen at low temperatures from fossil fuel such as methane (or coal/biomass). This involves a combination of several advanced catalysts and membrane technologies recently developed by us. The novel membrane to be developed consists of Al2O3 in the form of an asymmetric hollow fibre support onto which a series of modified-Ni (Fe,Cu), Ru or Rh catalysts will be deposited with a Pd or Pd-Ag alloy membrane coated onto the opposite side. Such an approach of fabricating an oxide support with active metal catalysts and a hydrogen separation layer for a combined function of reforming of fossil fuel and CO2 capture has not been attempted to date. The major advantage of this novel membrane micro-reactor is that, due to the low operating temperature and highly selective permeation of H2, high methane conversions can be achieved without catalyst deactivation enabling long term stability of the catalysts. The work will involve a highly multi-disciplinary effort with world-leading groups from UK and China to examine a number of key challenges mentioned above The proposal is distinctive in that the PDRAs and PhD student employed on the grant will travel to collaborating institutions for extended training in catalysis, membranes, modelling and system integration which will strengthen our research capability and increase the employability of the employed researchers.

Reactors and separators are widely used in chemical, food, pharmaceutical industries. The proposed programme intended to combine these two processes into one unit would greatly increase the process efficiencies and could have an enormous impact on the areas such as energy, membrane, material processing and catalyst industries. The energy industry will gain directly from the results of the project as they need access to a range of CCS technologies. They also employ SMR/WGS reactions. More broadly, the research will be of generic interest to all chemical manufacturers interested in CO2 capture and the production of hydrogen. Commercial exploitation of the results of this project may create an opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) providing membrane processes and also for producers of membrane materials. Results for hydrogen transport and catalytic activity will be useful to catalyst development. Also, the technology proposed will be suitable for local, small scale, distributed power generation, and on-board production of ultrapure H2 for PEM fuel cell applications, which indicate that natural gas or small amounts liquid-fuel such as LPG, DME, ethanol can be used to generate hydrogen for PEM fuel cell to generate electricity in a variety of applications and can be extended even to portable electrical appliances. We expect that the results of proposed project will be interested to companies of Air Products, Foster Weeler, Petronas Malaysia, Shell International, BP Technology and Johnson Matthey and will hold a workshop at Imperial in the final year of the project to disseminate the results from this project to these companies and at the same time serves as a platform for research exchanges between UK and China.