Speaker
Description
Induction-heating of nanoparticles placed inside chemical reactors is an alternative green approach for heating high-temperature endothermic catalytic reactions such as steam methane reforming (SMR) [1,2]. As of today, most of the world's hydrogen is produced from natural gas through SMR, but the reaction has conventionally been heated by firing, causing $\sim 1 \%$ of the world’s CO$_2$ emission.
This talk addresses the potential of induction heating. Magnetic nanoparticles can heat locally "from the inside" of the reactor, supplying heat where it is needed, while avoiding large temperature gradients across the catalyst bed [1,2]. Moreover, the heating can be powered by electricity from renewable sources and may due to faster reactor startup times exploit periods of surplus electricity [1,2].
Our recent work show how CoNi nanoparticles on an alumina support can act both as catalyst and as magnetic susceptor to drive SMR at high methane to hydrogen conversion rate at high temperatures ($\sim 800$ °C) [1,2]. The Co:Ni composition can be tuned for optimal performance at given operating temperatures and induction field amplitudes [1]. Moreover, composition can be chosen such that the Curie temperature prevents overheating [1]. A new sample holder for vibrating sample magnetometry (VSM) enables studies of the powder materials at high temperature in well-controlled gas atmospheres [3].
The talk further discusses the applicability of induction heating of magnetic nanoparticles to drive catalytic reactions [1,2] and compares induction heating with conventional heating and resistive heating [4], in the case of SMR and more generally.
Acknowledgements
The work has been supported by Innovation Fund Denmark.
References
[1] M. R. Almind et al., “Optimized CoNi Nanoparticle Composition for Curie-Temperature-Controlled Induction-Heated Catalysis,” ACS Applied Nano Materials, vol. 4, no. 11. American Chemical Society (ACS), pp. 11537–11544, Oct. 20, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.1c01941
[2] M. G. Vinum et al., “Dual‐Function Cobalt–Nickel Nanoparticles Tailored for High‐Temperature Induction‐Heated Steam Methane Reforming,” Angewandte Chemie, vol. 130, no. 33. Wiley, pp. 10729–10733, Jul. 13, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.201804832
[3] M. R. Almind et al., “Retrofittable plug-flow reactor for in situ high-temperature vibrating sample magnetometry with well-controlled gas atmospheres,” Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 94, no. 6. AIP Publishing, Jun. 01, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0113493
[4] S. T. Wismann et al., “Electrified methane reforming: A compact approach to greener industrial hydrogen production,” Science, vol. 364, no. 6442. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), pp. 756–759, May 24, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaw8775
