SAES^® ST909 Bench Scale Methane Cracking Tests

Bench scale methane cracking tests have been completed using a stack of ten SAES^® St909 pellets. Baseline test conditions were five percent methane in helium at ten seem, 101 kPa (760 torr), and 700°C. Changes from baseline conditions varied temperature, pressure, flow rate, and carrier gas composition to include hydrogen and nitrogen. Methane cracking efficiency (ɛ_M) decreased with decreasing temperature and pressure. Faster gas feed rates decreased ɛ_M, but cracked more methane. Introducing hydrogen, nitrogen, or ammonia into the feed gas reduced ɛ_M, but ammonia was still cracked at high efficiencies. ɛ_M was further decreased when both nitrogen and hydrogen were in the carrier gas compared to using a carrier of only nitrogen or hydrogen.