A novel catalytic reaction system capturing solid carbon from greenhouse gas, combined with dry reforming of methane

Abstract

Technologies for the recovery of carbon from greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane in the solid state will lead to the development of a low-carbon society. For the purpose of realizing such technology, we constructed a catalytic reaction system that continuously captures solid carbon while producing synthesis gas by dry reforming of CH4 (DRM). The constructed reaction system exhibited high DRM activity without catalyst deterioration, with a maximum rate of 20.3% for capturing solid carbon. The use of an iron-based wall-type catalyst and the control of the capturing temperature were effective in improving the carbon capturing rate. We have succeeded in developing a novel catalytic reaction system that can collect solid carbon at a much lower temperature than that by methane decomposition. It was considered that carbon deposition from synthesis gas proceeds via a reaction mechanism which includes formation of cementite (Fe3C). The quality of the collected carbon varied depending on the capturing conditions. In particular, it was confirmed that carbon subjected to higher temperatures contained carbon-nanotubes (CNTs) with high crystallinity and elongation.