Design catalyst for the gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology was the focus of numerous studies since the invention of this technology in the mid of 1920s by Hans Tropsch and Frank Fischer. Nevertheless, the reforming techniques were mainly limited to Nickel-based catalysts while the Fischer Tropsch reaction was limited to cobalt-based and iron-based catalysts. The first part of the talk will highlight the potentials for addressing the major challenges related to CO2 utilization in natural gas processing plant investigating the Dry reforming of Methane (DRM) as a potential enabling process that converts two greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) to syngas. Although DRM is an attractive route for CO2 utilization, it faces many challenges for commercial application. These limitations include high endothermicity of the reaction, low quality of the syngas ratio (H2/CO ~ 1) and rapid catalyst deactivation due to the large quantity of carbon formation.  To address a grand challenge such as this requires synergy between various groups aiming to solve different problems. Our research group is leading a major initiative seeks to tackle these challenges at multiple scales, right from molecular level catalyst design to overall process integration studies. At the molecular level, Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations have been used to design better catalytic systems including bi-metallic catalysts and other systems. Besides, our group has developed novel carbon generation units and unique syngas adjustment process (COSORB) that enables direct utilization of syngas for downstream Fischer Tropsch process, while being able to achieve more than 70% CO2 conversions.  And finally, at the process level, Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) have been conducted to study the impact of DRM on the CO2 emissions of syngas generation units. The focus of this presentation will be on the inter-linking and synergy between different scales that is helping us develop multiple possible solutions towards the development of a sustainable CO2 utilization process.<br/>Also, the talk will highlight the role of the cobalt-based catalysts in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (FTS) in the light of the extensive research work has been conducted by the late Professor  Burt Davis and his co-workers.<br/>

Design of novel catalytic systems for the gas-to-liquid technology

2019 Fall National Meeting

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