http://wvuscholar.wvu.edu:8881//exlibris/dtl/d3_1/apache_media/6053.pdf
We have presented a great deal of evidence in support of our contention that Carbon Dioxide - as arises, relative to natural sources of emission, such as volcanoes, in a relatively small way from our varied and productive uses of Coal - is a valuable raw material resource.
We can use it, as NASA intends to do on the planet Mars, as we've documented, to synthesize liquid hydrocarbon fuels.
The conversion of Carbon Dioxide into hydrocarbons can follow a couple of different technical paths, some of which seem to be classified as either "bi-reforming" or "tri-reforming"; apparently depending upon whether the CO2 is to be reacted with Methane or Water, or with both, in the hydrocarbon synthesis process.
Keep in mind that any needed Methane can itself be synthesized from Carbon Dioxide via the Sabatier process - which won the 1912 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and which is now a component of NASA's Martian rocket fuel strategy.
Coming down from Mars, we see herein that, even in more mundane locales, such as Morgantown, WV, it is known that Carbon Dioxide can be recycled through reactions with Methane, and made thereby to produce valuable hydrocarbons.
Comment follows excerpts from the enclosed link to, and attached file of:
"New Catalysts for Syngas Production from Carbon Dioxide and Methane
Mahesh V. Iyer
Thesis submitted to the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Chemical Engineering.
Edwin L. Kugler, Ph.D., Chair; Dady B. Dadyburjor, Ph.D.; Jean B. Cropley, M.S.
Department of Chemical Engineering; Morgantown, West Virginia; Copyright 2001
In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the area of greenhouse gases due to the alarming global warming effect. Methane and carbon dioxide are both greenhouse gases. Therefore, the reduction and use of these gases would be very much appreciated and is gaining more importance (Wang et al., 1996). Catalytic reforming of methane with carbon dioxide to syngas has been proposed as one of the most promising technologies for use of these greenhouse gases as carbon-containing materials.
Syngas produced by dry reforming has a higher purity as compared to the conventional steam reforming process. Dry reforming also results in a lower H2/CO ratio, near unity (Bradford and Vannice, 1999).
In the case of certain applications (like Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of long-chain hydrocarbons, hydroformylation, and synthesis of valuable oxygenated chemicals such as oxo-alcohols), a H2/CO feed ratio close to unity is desired.
Commercially, nickel-based catalysts are used for methane reforming due to their inherent availability and low costs as compared to the noble metals. However, these nickel catalysts also catalyze coke formation via methane decomposition (and) efforts have been concentrated on exploring new catalysts, which are resistant to (such) carbon formation.
Exploring better catalysts would reduce process costs for methanol, ammonia, and Fischer-Tropsch plants. There has been increasing evidence that carbides of molybdenum and tungsten could serve as potential future alternatives to the platinum-group metal catalysts and are being identified as “magic catalysts” ... .
The overall purpose of this research study is to investigate new molybdenum or tungsten carbide catalysts for dry reforming of methane to produce syngas.
(D)ry reforming using CO2 seems to be a very promising alternative. Fischer and Tropsch first proposed this reaction in 1928 ... and it has several advantages.
(There have been) reported a two stage reactor process for the synthesis of liquid hydrocarbons from dry reforming (of CO2) and Fischer Tropsch reactions. Therefore, dry reforming seems very promising,
This project has demonstrated the performance of a cobalt tungsten carbide material as a catalyst precursor for methane dry reforming with carbon dioxide to produce synthesis gas.
(Other concepts could be incorporated as extensions of this work, such as) feeding both water and carbon dioxide along with methane. This forms the combined reforming concept where both steam (H2O) and dry reforming (CO2) reforming can be achieved simultaneously. One advantage of this method is that
H2/CO ratios ranging from 1-3 can be produced by tuning the CH4/CO2/H2O feed ratio.
Besides, the H2O present in the feed can suppress the carbon deposition during the CH4-CO2 reforming via gasification ... .
Finally, from an industrial perspective, the goal should be focused on preparation and evaluation of supported molybdenum and tungsten carbide catalysts, which exhibit high activity and stability as well as resistance to carbon deposition."
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Our limited excerpts do not, simply, do justice to the scope and detail of Iyer's WVU-supported work.
Note, that, although WVU's focus was on "dry", or "bi"-reforming, the concept of tri-reforming, wherein Water can be added to the Carbon Dioxide and Methane reactant mix, and the system made, as we've earlier documented, in reports from Penn State University and others, to be feasible, to produce a broader array of useful hydrocarbons, is noted and briefly discussed.
Such tri-reforming processes, as Iyer also notes, in confirmation of Swiss and Israeli reports we've earlier provided you, help as well to prevent and minimize the deposition of Carbon on catalyst surfaces - thus preventing catalyst deactivation and enabling more complete utilization of CO2's Carbon content in the synthesis of hydrocarbons.
Further: Recall that the needed Methane can, in addition to synthesis from Carbon Dioxide via the Sabatier process, be generated by the catalyzed Steam-gasification of Coal.