Process intensification through multifunctional reactor concepts: Reverse-flow reactor and nanocomposite materials

Multifunctional reactor concepts can lead to significant process intensification by integrating more than one unit operation in one reactive system. The integration can occur at both reactor and catalyst/material levels.; In the first part of this thesis, we will demonstrate that heat-integration in a reverse-flow reactor (RFR) can successfully overcome thermodynamic limitations during autothermal reactor operations for catalytic partial oxidation of methane (CPOM) and autothermal reforming (ATR) and results in significantly increased syngas and particularly hydrogen yields; significantly increased reactor throughput as well as significantly increased autothermal reactor operation ranges. Furthermore, although RFR operates at higher temperatures than steady state (SS) operation, it leads to an intrinsic compensation for catalyst deactivation.; In the second part of this thesis, we will report the development of novel nanostructured oxygen carriers. Using a microemulsion-templated sol-gel synthesis route, metal-alumina nanocomposite materials (Me-BHA) were prepared and evaluated in comparison which conventionally prepared Bentonite-based oxygen carriers. Ni-, Fe-, and Cu-based nanocomposites were synthesized, characterized, and evaluated in TGA and reactor studies using a coal-derived syngas as model fuel. Nanostructuring of the oxygen carrier leads to a drastic acceleration of the oxidation kinetics in Ni- and Fe-based carriers, but only weakly accelerated kinetics for Cu-based materials. The embedding of the nanosized metal particles by the ceramic supports also overcome sintering problems and make these oxygen carriers particularly stable at high temperature applications.; Overall, in both cases, we will demonstrate that process intensification goals can be well achieved via the integrated reactor concepts in a reactive system (reactor level and material level).