Catalytic toluene steam reforming using Ni supported catalyst from pyrolytic peat

Abstract

The paper aims to investigate an effective method of catalytic reforming of toluene using peat char-supported Ni metal to achieve clean gas production. Utilizing KOH or CO2 activation to increases the surface area and pore volume of peat char during catalyst preparation. The chemical and structural properties of catalysts is explained based on SEM, EDS, XRD, BET method. Meanwhile, the influence of reaction temperature, residence times (τ), steam-to‑carbon ratios (S/C) in catalytic reaction and the molar ratio of CO, CO2, H2, CH4 in clean gas were investigated. The results indicated that SiO2 structure plays a significant role in nickel-based peat char catalyst, and the catalyst exhibited high catalytic performance. Conversion efficiencies of toluene can reach about 95.3% using Ni/APC catalyst at residence time of 0.5 s, steam-to‑carbon ratio of 3:1, temperature of 850 °C. The catalyst also exerted a positive effect on the syngas (CO + H2) production with the maximum molar ratio reaching up to 94.7 mol% under the optimized conditions. The high catalytic activity was mainly attributed to the structure of AlNi2Si and NiSi on the catalyst surface. Therefore, the cost-effective peat char-supported Ni catalysts could be used for aromatic tar conversion.