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global emissions of carbon dioxide (co2) are considered to contribute to greenhouse effect. scientists have been seeking for solutions to recover and transform excessive co2. shanghai advanced research institute (sari) of chinese academy of sciences (cas) successfully worked out a high-tech device to reform methane and co2, converting waste into gold. recently, the world’s first ten-thousand-cubic device for autothermal reforming methane and co2 into syngas had been in stable operation for 1,000 hours at the coal-to-liquid base of shanxi lu’an group. daily output of syngas was over 200,000 standard volumes, transforming up to 60 tons of co2 per day.
this technology originated from a program of thermal reforming of methane & co2 initiated by sari, shanxi lu’an group and shell group.
co2 and methane are not only typical greenhouse gases but also important carbon-bearing resources. under certain conditions, co2 and methane can be converted into syngas which is an important feed gas that can be further generated into gasoline, methanol, ethanol, acetic acid and etc. comparing to traditional methane steam reforming, methane & co2 reforming hardly consume any water. instead, a large amount of co2 is utilized in the reforming process which greatly reduces energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
dr. zhang jun, a member of the research team, said that the reaction process is especially liable to carbon formation. catalysts for preventing carbon formation and dedicated reactor are the two core difficulties in industrialization of such technologies. however, after 10 years effort, the key laboratory of low-carbon conversion science and engineering of sari settled the problem of stability of nano-metal catalyst and optimized the matching between the catalyst and reactor structure. this technology is applicable to the conversion and utilization of not only conventional or non-conventional natural gas but also massive industrial waste gases generated by coal chemical and metallurgy industries.
days ago the china petroleum and chemical industry federation (cpcif) conducted a 72-hour continuous running calibration of this technology and industrial side stream testing device. experts agreed that this technology enabled efficient utilization of co2 resources and flexible adjustment of syngas ratio and recommended industrial application as soon as possible.