SBIR Phase II: Mixed Oxide Sulfur-Tolerant Water Gas Shift Catalysts

该小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目将重点关注在第一阶段计划中确定的用于从生物质生产燃料的催化剂组合物的改进。 需要新的催化剂材料来使来自生物质的液体燃料和氢更经济和有效。 在该第二阶段项目中，将采用可扩展的合成方法来制备1kg/天批次的高表面积催化剂，并使用专有添加剂来提高低温变换活性。 在第二阶段研究期间，pH Matter将展示新型催化剂组合物在其他客户特定气体进料环境下的性能，并展示一种扩大催化剂合成工艺的方法，以交付给BTL系统开发商和商业催化剂制造商。 最终目标是生产催化剂并生成性能数据，证明催化剂可以在生物质来源中发现的所有污染物中运行，降低成本并提高生物质燃料生产的效率。该项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力可能相当大。从生物质生产能源和液体燃料将产生一些有益的社会影响。生物质气化过程是碳中性的，因为它使用从植物中捕获的C0 2;因此，生物质气化将取代化石燃料的能源生产，从而减少温室气体排放。 与燃料作物不同，生物质可以从第二代资源中获得，如不用于人类消费的废物，因此该技术不会与食物资源竞争。此外，使用生物质作为液体燃料将减少我国对外国能源的依赖。 在NSF SBIR计划第二阶段开发和改进的技术也可以应用于广泛的其他催化反应。 潜在的应用包括：贫燃柴油机废气处理、燃料电池的烃重整、燃料电池中的电极材料和气-液工艺。总的来说，该项目将为催化和材料开发领域的文献提供新的成果。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will focus on the refinement of catalyst compositions identified during the Phase I program for production of fuels from biomass. New catalyst materials are needed to make liquid fuels and hydrogen from biomass more economical and efficient. In this Phase II project a scalable synthesis method will be utilized to prepare 1kg/day batches of high surface area catalysts with proprietary additives to improve low temperature shift activity. During the Phase II research, pH Matter will demonstrate the performance of the novel catalyst compositions under additional customer-specific gas feed environments and demonstrate a method for scaling up the catalyst synthesis process for delivery to BTL system developers and commercial catalyst manufacturers. The end goal is production of catalysts and generation of performance data demonstrating that the catalyst can operate in the full range of contaminants found in biomass sources,reducing the cost and improving the efficiency of fuel production from biomass.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is potentially quite large. The production of energy and liquid fuels from biomass will have a number of beneficial societal impacts. Biomass gasification processes are carbon neutral, since it uses C0 2 that was captured from plants; therefore, biomass gasification will replace energy production from fossil fuels, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Unlike fuel crops, biomass can be garnered from second generation sources like waste products that have no use for human consumption, so the technology does not compete with food sources. Further,using biomass as a source of liquid fuel will reduce the dependence of our nation on foreign sources of energy. The technology developed and refined during the Phase II NSF SBIR program could have application to a wide range of other catalytic reactions as well. Potential applications include: lean burn diesel engine exhaust treatment,hydrocarbon reforming for fuel cells, electrode materials in fuel cells,and gas-to-liquid processes. Overall,the project will contribute novel results to the body of literature in catalysis and materials development.