High Pressure Ammonia decomposition on Ru-K/CaO catalysts

by S. Sayas, N. Morlanés, S.P. Katikaneni, A. Harale, B. Solami, J. Gascon
Year: 2020

Bibliography

S. Sayas, N. Morlanés, S. P. Katikaneni, A. Harale, B. Solami and J. Gascon. Catal. Sci. Tech 10 (2020) 5027-5035. High Pressure Ammonia decomposition on Ru-K/CaO catalysts

Abstract

Potassium-promoted Ruthenium supported on CaO is a very efficient catalyst for ammonia decomposition, surpassing the performance of other Ru supported solids. At an optimum Ru loading of 3% wt., catalysts with a K/Ru atomic ratio of 0.9 showed the best catalytic performance in a wide range of operating conditions, P = 1-40 bar, T = 250-550 °C and WHSV = 9000-30000 mL g-1 h-1. Although NH3 conversion levels decrease considerably upon increasing reaction pressure (X550°C, 40 bar = 0.8), high pressure ammonia decomposition offers the possibility of COx-free compressed hydrogen and hydrogen productivities and TOFs 40 times bigger than when applying atmospheric pressure. Extensive characterization by CO chemisorption and HR-TEM demonstrates that potassium promotion increases metal dispersion by decreasing Ru particle size. Electronic effects derived from the close proximity between K and Ru result in a decrease in the reaction apparent activation energy, as shown by a detailed kinetic analysis