CO methanation over Ni catalysts supported on high surface area mesoporous nanocrystalline γ-Al2O3 for CO removal in H2-rich stream

Abstract

In this work, nickel catalysts supported on mesoporous nanocrystalline gamma alumina with high surface area were prepared and employed in CO methanation reaction. The prepared samples were characterized by XRD, BET, SEM, TEM, TPD and TPR techniques. The results showed that the optimized γ-Al2O3 possessed a mesoporous nanocrystalline structure with a high surface area of 328 m2 g−1. The catalytic results revealed that 25 wt.% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity and showed 100% CO conversion at temperatures as low as 240 °C. This catalyst exhibited the high stability for CO conversion and CH4 selectivity during 120 h time on stream at 240 °C. In addition, the effect of GHSV, CO:H2 ratio and the effect of CO2 and H2O on the catalytic performance of Ni/Al2O3 catalysts in CO methanation reaction was investigated.