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Investigation of role of lanthanum oxide in cobalt/cobalt carbide active cobalt-based catalyst for higher alcohol synthesis from biomass derived syngas


EMSL Project ID
44719

Abstract

With the depletion of petroleum reserves and increasing concern about the global climate change, catalytic conversion of coal and biomass derived syngas into mixed alcohols may play an important role in the production of environmentally benign renewable energy sources. Instead of producing transportation fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, syngas could be used to produce more valuable mixed higher alcohols (C2-C8) which could serve as hydrogen energy carriers with an energy density higher than methanol or gaseous hydrocarbons Recently, it has been reported that the mixed linear C1-C18 alcohols can be produced using La2O3 doped activated carbon (AC) supported Co catalysts. Recent work at PNNL has begun to clarify the role of La2O3, AC supports and the presence of Co2C phases on the enhanced selectivity of these catalysts towards higher alcohols. The aim of the current research proposal is to extend this study our ongoing study on this system to follow up on the insights gained from our past investigations to design new Co based catalysts with enhanced activity/selectivity towards higher alcohols. We hypothesize that improved catalysts can be obtained by synthesizing materials with either/both increased percentages of Co2C as well as maximizing the La2O3/Co(Co2C) interfacial sites. Success of this effort hinges critically on our ability to characterize these new catalysts and compare these insights with reactivity studies. Thus, we intend to employ in parallel catalyst synthesise techniques, in-situ and ex-situ catalyst characterization, catalyst reactivity performance studies and state-of-the-art computation. The core of this research is supported by the DOE/EERE Biomass Program, supports the US-China Renewable Energy Partnership.

Project Details

Project type
Exploratory Research
Start Date
2011-07-21
End Date
2012-07-22
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

Vanessa Dagle
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Huamin Wang
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Amity Andersen
Institution
Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory

Roger Rousseau
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Jonathan Male
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Donghai Mei
Institution
Tiangong University

Do Heui Kim
Institution
Seoul National University

Yong Wang
Institution
Washington State University