Experimental Study on Ni/γ-Al2O3 and Its Modified Catalysts for Catalytic Steam Reforming of Methane

Abstract

Hydrogen having high energy density with almost no pollution have brought attention of researchers in the recent decade. The cost-effective hydrogen production for fuel cells to meet energy demands is the need of hour. The production of this hydrogen from catalytic steam reforming of methane from renewable and green resources such as biomass is worth exploring. In this study, catalytic steam reforming of methane using Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3 and modified low cost Ni-Al 2 O 3 /MgO/CaO and NiLa-Al2O 3 /MgO/CaO catalysts were studied to achieve maximum CH 4 conversion and high hydrogen yield. These catalyst were generated in our lab using equal volume impregnation method and later characterized by BET, XRD and TPR. These catalyst revealed both effectiveness and stability in methane steam reforming at medium temperatures of 600°C-750°C. Among these catalysts the modified catalyst NiLa-Al 2 O 3 /MgO/CaO astonishingly showed 98.6% efficiency at low temperatures consuming less heating energy. It was observed that NiLa-Al 2 O 3 /MgO/CaO catalyst showed high catalytic performance and stability up to eight hours under reaction stream. This behavior demonstrated that NiLa-Al 2 O 3 /MgO/CaO is promising 3E (economical, effective and efficient) catalyst for production of hydrogen from methane. The catalyst attains the objective of the experiment of low production cost, low operation cost and high efficiency.