Review on methanation – From fundamentals to current projects

Methane production from syngas goes back to more than 100 years of research and process development. Early developments (1970–1980) using syngas from coal gasification plants primarily focused on fixed-bed and fluidized-bed methanation technologies. Temperature control and catalyst deactivation, e.g. caused by fouling and mechanical stress, were key issues of investigation. Due to the debate about a sustainable energy supply, research on methanation has been intensified during the last ten years. Novel reactor developments comprise e.g. micro reactors and three-phase reactors aiming at an advanced temperature control and a reduced complexity of future methanation plants. The developments are supported by detailed modeling and simulation work to optimize the design and dynamic behavior. To accompany and facilitate new methanation developments, the present work is aimed at giving researchers a comprehensive overview of methanation research conducted during the last century. On one hand, application-orientated research focusing on reactor developments, reactor modeling, and pilot plant investigation is reviewed. On the other hand, fundamentals such as reaction mechanisms and catalyst deactivation are presented.