Syngas Cleaning

Syngas Cleaning | Hot-Gas Filtration | Desulfurization, Tar Cracking, Ammonia Cracking
Trace Metal Capture | Preparation and Characterization of Catalysts and Sorbents
PSDF Transport Gasifier | Laboratory-Scale Gasifer

Capabilities and Experience in Preparation and Characterization of Catalysts and Sorbents

Southern Research has capabilities and experience with many of the techniques that are used in catalyst/sorbent preparation and characterization. The list below shows the techniques that are available at Southern Research.

Catalyst/sorbent preparation:

• Size reduction of commercial materials in lab mills as needed
• Preparation or procurement of solutions from which catalysts are precipitated
• Precipitation of catalysts in beakers, pans, or stirring beds
• Recovery of precipitate by vacuum filtration
• Drying of recovered catalyst in lab ovens
• Calcining in tube furnace in reducing gases as needed for activation

Physical characterization:

• Surface area measurement by BET method
• Porosity and pore-size distribution by nitrogen adsorption
• Particle-size distribution by Microtrac and/or Shimadzu analyzers
• Morphology studies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
• Heat capacity by differential scanning calorimeter or adiabatic calorimeter
• Thermal expansion of substrates by quartz tube dilatometer

Chemical characterization:

• Chemical composition by inductively-coupled argon plasma (ICAP)
• Micro-analysis by energy-dispersive x-ray analysis (EDX)
• Chemical compound identification by x-ray diffraction (XRD)
• Adsorption/desorption studies by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
• Study of phase transitions by differential thermal analysis (DTA)
• High-temperature morphology changes by hot-stage SEM (up to 1000°C)

Reactivity evaluation in Southern Research catalyst test facility (or in reactors at Power Systems Development Facility)

• Preparation of synthetic gas mixtures using mass flow controllers
• On-line, real-time gas analysis by MKS Model 2030 FTIR analyzer
• Substrate-supported catalyst and packed-bed studies up to 1000°C
• Evaluation of initial reactivity and catalyst/sorbent degradation
• Evaluation of poisoning effects due to sulfur, halides, and trace metals

Syngas Cleaning | Hot-Gas Filtration | Desulfurization, Tar Cracking, Ammonia Cracking
Trace Metal Capture | Preparation and Characterization of Catalysts and Sorbents
PSDF Transport Gasifier | Laboratory-Scale Gasifer