Catalytic Combustion of Lean Methane on Commercial Palladium-Based Catalysts

• Author / Creator

  Huang, Guangyu

• Catalytic combustion provides us an efficient approach for the utilization and mitigation of methane, the major component of natural gas as well as an important greenhouse gas in global warming. From the research of catalytic combustion of methane, better understandings as well as solutions to the current methane-related problems can be obtained.

  This study investigates lean methane combustion on palladium-based catalysts. Catalysts’ activities were tested through ignition and extinction experiments. Several pretreatments and their influence were studied. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) were used as characterization tools for the catalysts. It was found that after being reduced, catalysts had stable and excellent abilities for methane conversion. However, these abilities were strongly compromised by additional water in the feeds. XRD results, combined with other testing results, implied that reduction produced the most active samples, while INAA revealed the real Pd concentrations of these catalysts.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Methane; Catalytic Combustion; Palladium; Methane Concentration; Water

• Graduation date

  Spring 2010

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3PP7M

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.