Reforma a vapor catalítica do metano: Otimização da produção e seletividade em hidrogênio por absorção in situ do CO2 produzido

Topics of research related to energy and environment have significantly grown in recent years, with the need of its own energy as hydrogen. More particularly, numerous researches have been focused on hydrogen as energy vector. The main portion of hydrogen is presently obtained by reforming of methane or light hydrocarbons (steam, oxy, dry or auto reforming). During the methane steam reforming process the formation of CO2 undesirable (the main contributor to the greenhouse effect) is observed. Thus, an oxide material (sorbent) can be used to capture the CO2 generated during the process and simultaneously shifting the equilibrium of water gas shift towards thermodynamically more favorable production of pure hydrogen. The aim of this study is to develop a material with dual function (catalyst/sorbent) in the reaction of steam reforming of methane. CaO is well known as CO2 sorbent due to its high efficiency in reactions of carbonation and easy regeneration through calcination. However the kinetic of carbonation decreases quickly with time and carbonation/calcination cycles. A calcium aluminate (Ca12Al14O33) should be used to avoid sintering and increase the stability of CaO sorbents for several cycles. Nickel, the industrial catalyst choice for steam reforming has been added to the support from different manners. These bi-functional materials (sorbent/catalyst) in different molar ratios CaO.Ca12Al14O33 (48:52, 65:35, 75:25, 90:10) were prepared by different synthesis methodologies, among them, especially the method of microwave assisted self-combustion. Synthesis, structure and catalytic performances of Ni- CaO.Ca12Al14O33 synthesized by the novel method (microwave assisted selfcombustion) proposed in this work has not being reported yet in literature. The results indicate that CO2 capture time depends both on the CaO excess and on operating conditions (eg., temperature and H2O/CH4 ratio). To be efficient for CO2 sorption, temperature of steam reforming needs to be lower than 700 °C. An optimized percentage corresponding to 75% of CaO and a ratio H2O/CH4 = 1 provides the most promising results since a smaller amount of water avoids competition between water and CO2 to form carbonate and hydroxide. If this competition is most effective (H2O/CH4 = 3) and would have a smaller amount of CaO available for absorption possibly due to the formation of Ca(OH)2. Therefore, the capture time was higher (16h) for the ratio H2O/CH4 = 1 than H2O/CH4 = 3 (7h) using as catalyst one prepared by impregnating the support obtained by microwave assisted self-combustion. Therefore, it was demonstrated that, with these catalysts, the CO2 sorption on CaO modifies the balance of the water gas-shift reaction. Consequently, steam reforming of CH4 is optimized, producing pure H2, complete conversion of methane and negligible concentration of CO2 and CO during the time of capture even at low temperature (650 °C). This validates the concept of the sorption of CO2 together with methane steam reforming

Sistema inteligente para detecção de vazamentos em dutos de petróleo usando transformada Wavelet e redes neurais

This work consists in the use of techniques of signals processing and artificial neural networks to identify leaks in pipes with multiphase flow. In the traditional methods of leak detection exists a great difficulty to mount a profile, that is adjusted to the found in real conditions of the oil transport. These difficult conditions go since the unevenly soil that cause columns or vacuum throughout pipelines until the presence of multiphases like water, gas and oil; plus other components as sand, which use to produce discontinuous flow off and diverse variations. To attenuate these difficulties, the transform wavelet was used to map the signal pressure in different resolution plan allowing the extraction of descriptors that identify leaks patterns and with then to provide training for the neural network to learning of how to classify this pattern and report whenever this characterize leaks. During the tests were used transient and regime signals and pipelines with punctures with size variations from ½' to 1' of diameter to simulate leaks and between Upanema and Estreito B, of the UN-RNCE of the Petrobras, where it was possible to detect leaks. The results show that the proposed descriptors considered, based in statistical methods applied in domain transform, are sufficient to identify leaks patterns and make it possible to train the neural classifier to indicate the occurrence of pipeline leaks

Simulador computacional do comportamento em regime de poços de petróleo equipados com gas-lift contínuo

Amongst the results of the AutPoc Project - Automation of Wells, established between UFRN and Petrobras with the support of the CNPq, FINEP, CTPETRO, FUNPEC, was developed a simulator for equipped wells of oil with the method of rise for continuous gas-lift. The gas-lift is a method of rise sufficiently used in production offshore (sea production), and its basic concept is to inject gas in the deep one of the producing well of oil transform it less dense in order to facilitate its displacement since the reservoir until the surface. Based in the use of tables and equations that condense the biggest number of information on characteristics of the reservoir, the well and the valves of gas injection, it is allowed, through successive interpolations, to simulate representative curves of the physical behavior of the existing characteristic variable. With a simulator that approaches a computer of real the physical conditions of an oil well is possible to analyze peculiar behaviors with very bigger speeds, since the constants of time of the system in question well are raised e, moreover, to optimize costs with assays in field. The simulator presents great versatility, with prominance the analysis of the influence of parameters, as the static pressure, relation gas-liquid, pressure in the head of the well, BSW (Relation Basic Sediments and Water) in curves of request in deep of the well and the attainment of the curve of performance of the well where it can be simulated rules of control and otimization. In moving the rules of control, the simulator allows the use in two ways of simulation: the application of the control saw software simulated enclosed in the proper simulator, as well as the use of external controllers. This implies that the simulator can be used as tool of validation of control algorithms. Through the potentialities above cited, of course one another powerful application for the simulator appears: the didactic use of the tool. It will be possible to use it in formation courses and recycling of engineers