ABSTRACT
Rh-Impregnated Solid Catalysts for Chemical Looping Applications
The large-scale production of commodity chemicals depends heavily on the combustion of fossil fuels. As a result, enormous amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) are emitted which severely affects the global climate. The conventional chemical processes are extensively optimized and do not provide any space for further energy savings and emissions control. Chemical looping (CL) has arisen as a promising strategy for the clean and cost-effective conversion of carbonaceous fuel to useful commodities such as chemicals or their precursors (e.g., syngas) by utilizing a solid catalyst. Currently, the most researched CL processes for syngas production include partial oxidation of methane coupled with air separation and CO2 reforming of methane. The solid catalysts used in these CL processes have been shown to suffer from slow redox kinetics, especially at low temperatures. We have demonstrated that by impregnating the solid catalysts with very small amounts of platinum group metals (PGM) such as rhodium (Rh), the redox kinetics can be enhanced significantly. The inherent ability of CL to minimize carbon emissions and the role of PGMs to accelerate the kinetics of solid catalysis at low temperatures make them very attractive for the efficient, clean, and cost-effective production of commodity chemicals.
BIOGRAPHY
I am from Lahore (The City of Gardens) in northeast Pakistan. I matriculated at North Carolina State University, USA in 2019. I obtained my BS in chemical engineering from COMSATS University in Lahore and my MS from the University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Lahore. Currently, I am performing my dissertation research in heterogeneous catalysis supervised by Prof. Fanxing Li. I work on chemical looping dry reforming of methane to produce Fischer Tropsch-ready syngas with the aid of oxygen carriers. As a part of my project, I am also interested in developing alternative strategies to produce inherently separated syngas streams in a chemical looping scheme.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AGR4FkwAAAAJ&hl=ena
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherafghan-iftikhar-18849514a/