Methanation reaction for the production of synthetic natural gas from synthesis gas produced by coal gasification

Woo Ram Kang, Soo Ik Im, Ki Bong Lee

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    Abstract

    The concern for the depletion of crude oil and natural gas and the increasing price of them are building up the interest in abundant, cheap, and world-widely spread coal among the fossil fuels. In addition, there are lots of ongoing studies on coal gasification to efficiently control the emission of pollutants from coal. The purpose of this study is to characterize the catalytic methanation reaction converting the synthesis gas produced by coal gasification into methane, and finally to develop an efficient process to produce synthetic natural gas (SNG) of which major component is methane. First, a conventional methanation reaction was studied by using equilibrium reaction calculations to elucidate the effects of temperature, pressure, and feed composition on the performance of methanation reaction based on synthesis gas. In the exothermic methanation reaction, lower temperature and/or higher pressure were favorable to increase CO conversion to methane. However, there was a limitation in the methanation reaction using the original composition of synthesis gas for high CO conversion. It could be overcome by adding additional H2 to feed gas, resulting in high CO conversion more than 99%. Further, a sorption enhanced methanation reaction where the by-product H2O is removed by adsorption simultaneously with methanation reaction was newly developed to increase the efficiency of methanation reaction. The novel process could overcome the thermodynamic limitation, enhance the CO conversion to methane, and contribute to the development of a compact SNG production system.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationProceedings of the 21st (2011) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, ISOPE-2011
    Pages58-65
    Number of pages8
    Publication statusPublished - 2011
    Event21st International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, ISOPE-2011 - Maui, HI, United States
    Duration: 2011 Jun 192011 Jun 24

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
    ISSN (Print)1098-6189
    ISSN (Electronic)1555-1792

    Other

    Other21st International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference, ISOPE-2011
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityMaui, HI
    Period11/6/1911/6/24

    Keywords

    • Coal
    • Methanation
    • Sorption enhanced reaction
    • Synthesis gas
    • Synthetic natural gas

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
    • Ocean Engineering
    • Mechanical Engineering

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