Development of new catalyst for ammonia production

Abstract

The research activity was focused on the synthesis of new catalysts for ammonia production with enhanced oxyen resistance. Initially a wide range of synthetic route were studied for metal phase synthesis, finding templated co-precipitation as the most effective one. The active phase, made of iron, was then supported on different materials in variable percentage to investigate the role of the support in the overall reaction kinetic. The catalytic tests were performed in the R&D laboratory of Casale SA company, in Lugano, Switzerland. To evaluate the catalyst activity, reaction tests in industrial synthesis conditions were carried out. Moreover, materials poison resistance was evaluated testing the catalyst with increasing amount of oxygen in the synthesis gas. The fresh and spent catalyst were also characterized with different techniques like TPR, TPD, XRD, TEM, N2 physisorption. The characterization results allow to understand how chemical and structural properties of the catalysts affect reaction activity and above all the poison resistance. The obtained results show that the introduction of an opportune catalytic promoter led to an extended resistance to oxygen poisoning of the catalyst.