Steam gasification of carbon: Catalyst properties

The objectives of this research are to determine the catalyst composition and concentration for metal oxide (potassium and calcium oxides) catalyzed gasification of carbon. The scope of this research involves determining: the concentration of active catalytic sites (and thus the dispersion), at reaction conditions, as a function of temperature, carbon burnoff, catalyst loading, and catalyst type; the location of catalyst, on the surface, on an atomic scale; catalyst composition; the site-specific rate constant for steam gasification; insight into the reaction mechanism; and how to maximize catalyst dispersion. Isotope tracing will measure the concentration of active catalyst sites, their specific rate constant, and the dependence of sites on initial catalyst loading, carbon conversion (burnoff), and temperature. Transient isotope tracing, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), will be used to obtain a complete picture of the catalysts at reaction conditions. Carbon black, coal chars, and graphite will be used in the transient tracing experiment. In the SIMS and STM experiments, graphite and carbon deposited on a metal surface will be models of coal char