Researchers at EPFL have developed a reactor system and an analysis method that has allowed them to observe the real-time production of synthetic natural gas from CO2 and H2 for the first time.
Researchers at EPFL have developed a reactor system and an analysis method that has allowed them to observe the real-time production of synthetic natural gas from CO2 and H2 for the first time.
Infrared (IR) thermography is used to determine the temperature of humans and objects with high precision and without interfering with the system. A single image taken with an IR camera can capture the same amount of information as hundreds to millions of thermocouples (temperature sensors) at once. Furthermore, modern IR cameras can achieve fast acquisition frequencies of over 50 Hz, which allows the investigation of dynamic phenomena with high resolution.
Now, scientists at EPFL have designed a reactor that can use IR thermography to visualize dynamic surface reactions and correlate it with other rapid gas analysis methods to obtain a holistic understanding of the reaction in rapidly changing conditions. The research was led by Robin Mutschler and Emanuele Moioli at the lab of Andreas Züttel (EPFL and Empa) and they collaborated with researchers at the Polytechnic University of Milan.
Read more at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Image: Thermal image sequence showing the exothermic surface reaction front moving over the catalyst. (Credit: Source: ACS Catalysis; DOI: 10.1021/acscatal.9b04475)
