3563.     ---------------.  [VIGNON, L.]  [Formation of Methane by Catalysis From Carbon Monoxide and Water Vapor.]  Compt. rend., vol. 157, 1913, pp. 131-134; Chem. Abs., vol. 7, 1913, p. 3602.

        Substances studied as catalyzers were Fe, Ni, Cu, and the oxides of Si, Al, and Mg.  The catalyzers were placed in a glazed porcelain tube and heated at different temperatures in the electric furnace, the temperature being taken from the midst of the catalyzer by a Le Chatelier couple.  The temperatures at which a maximum yield of CH₄ was obtained and the % present in the resulting gas after deducting CO₂ and CO are as follows:  Al₂O₃, 950°, 39.1%; MgO, 900°, 58.7%; SiO₂, 750°, 43.5%; Fe, 950°, 35.5%; Ni, 400°, 89.3%; Cu, 700° 74.1%.  With Fe, Al₂O₃, and SiO₂, carbides are evidently an intermediate product and these carbides, as soon as formed, are acted upon by H₂O vapor with the formation of CH₄; for example, 12CO+2Al₂O₃=C₃Al₄+9CO₂; C₃Al₄+6H₂O=3CH₄+2Al₂O₃.  Another explanation for the formation of CH₄ is that under the influence of catalyzers the following reactions take place:  CO+H₂O=CO₂+H₂; 3H₂+CO=CH₄+H₂O; 4H₂+CO₂=CH₄+2H₂O.