Autothermal dry reforming of methane with a nickel spinellized catalyst prepared from a negative value metallurgical residue

Abstract

In this study, the performances of the nickel upgraded slag oxides (Ni-UGSO) catalyst on autothermal dry reforming (ATDR) of methane have been assessed. This catalyst, formulated from a negative value mining residue had been reported in recent studies and had shown good performances during methane steam reforming. At the experimental conditions range: T = 850 °C, molar ratios of CH4/O2 = 2 and CH4/CO2 = 3 and space velocity (GHSV) = 4500+/-100 ml/(h.gcat)STP, the catalyst displayed the best performances: 2 days stability without any deactivation, undetectable carbon formation, CH4 conversion of 98% and 98.8% (H2) and 95.5% (CO) yields. The apparent steady state operation is characterized by the coexistence of multiple phases in the catalyst structure such as iron, nickel, nickel oxide (NiO), nickel magnesium oxide (Ni,Mg)O, iron nickel NiFe and traces of spinel elements. At the tested temperatures and GHSV, the studied catalyst showed high activity (reaching near-chemical equilibrium state) with no detectable coke deposition. Moreover, the catalyst’s activity remained constant over time-on-stream. Ni-UGSO is derived from a Ni-decorated negative value metallurgical residue and its cost is well below all market-available reforming catalysts.This new low cost metallurgical waste-derived catalyst proves a potential good candidate for successful industrial dry reforming processes aimed at sustainable production of fuels from renewable sources i.e. biogas to liquid (BTL) fuels synthesis.