Syngas production by water electrolysis

This work consists, as a first step, in the synthesis gas (syngas) production and optimization through a one step innovative 1 kW prototype of alkaline water electrolysis (patented), using graphite electrodes and without separation of gases (containing CO, CO2, H2 and small amounts of O2). The electrolyte used is sodium hydroxide (NaOH), with a composition equal to 0.4 M. The behavior of the syngas composition and flow rate has been studied and optimized, changing operational parameters such as temperature, pressure and current intensity, and testing two different stacks. Afterwards, the best syngas composition has been sent into a catalytic reactor (filled with a Ni/CaO-Al2O3 catalyst) for the second aim of this work: preliminary tests on the methane production, at 1 bar and different temperatures.