Development of Catalytic Methanation as a Solution of CO2 Utilization

IHI is now dedicated to developing the carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology. A methanation catalyst with great robustness and superior catalytic activity for CO2 methanation has been developed together with Institute of Chemical and Engineering Science (ICES), A*STAR. The catalyst has a unique microstructure in which nano-Ni particles are embedded in mesoporous SiO2 matrix. Over 3,000 hrs, the catalyst showed the stable performance without any sign of deactivation. An isothermal type reactor with methane production capacity of 1.25 Nm3-CH4/hr was designed and operated successfully. Numerical simulation was also performed to further scale up the reactor.