Study of the deactivation mechanism of carbon blacks used in methane decomposition

Carbon blacks have recently gained attention as suitable catalysts for the COx-free hydrogen production by thermo-catalytic decomposition of methane (TCD) because of their stability and efficiency. In the present work, several commercial carbon blacks were studied as catalysts for the TCD of methane by varying the temperature and the methane space velocity. The BP2000 carbon black sample, which showed the highest activity in methane decomposition per mass of catalyst, was studied more thoroughly. Despite BP2000 exhibiting stable activity in the TCD of methane during several hours on stream, a long duration run carried out at 950 °C revealed that it finally became deactivated. The changes in the physicochemical properties (textural properties, surface chemistry and crystallinity) of the BP2000 sample at different stages of the catalyst lifetime were measured, and the main results obtained are presented here. The paper also discusses the potential of the production of a wide range of hydrogen–methane mixtures, which can be directly fed to an internal combustion engine, by means of TCD with carbonaceous catalysts.