Partial oxidation of n-butane over ceria-promoted nickel/calcium hydroxyapatite

Abstract

LPG has good infrastructure and is anticipated to be used for production of hydrogen, and n-butane which constitutes a main component of LPG for vehicles. Partial oxidation (POX) of n-butane is investigated in this research by employing ceria-promoted Ni/calcium hydroxyapatite catalysts (CexNi2.5/Ca-10(OH)(2)(PO4)(6) x=0.1-0.3) which have recently been reported to exhibit good catalytic performance in POX of methane and propane. The experiments were carried Out With changing ceria content, O-2/n-C4H10 ratio and reaction temperature. As the O-2/n-C4H10 ratio increased LIP to 2.75, the n-C4H10 conversion and H-2 yield increased and the selectivity of methane and other hydrocarbons decreased. But with O-2/n-C4H10=3.0, the n-C4H10 conversion and H-2 yield decreased. Ce0.1Ni2.5/Ca-10(OH)(2)(PO4)(6) showed the highest n-C4H10 conversion and H-2 yield on the whole. In durability tests, higher hydrogen yield and better catalyst stability were obtained with the O-2/n-C4H10 ratio of 2.75 than with the ratio of 2.5.