Methane dry reforming on fibrous silica-alumina employing nanocrystals of nickel and cobalt to recognize the most efficient metal

Abstract

Presently, the production of syngas through the dry reforming of methane is a widely employed approach for reducing vast amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Several metals, particularly transition metals support have been evaluated as active DRM catalyst systems. In this work, a comparative studies is presented between Cobalt and Nickel metals impregnated over fibrous silica-alumina (FSA) support synthesized by the hydrothermal method for dry methane reforming. The specimens were characterized via FESEM mapping, TEM, XRD, H2-TPR, XRF, N2 physisorption, and KBr-FTIR techniques. Unlike the Co/FSA, Ni/FSA displayed a higher surface area with a fine dispersion of Ni nano-crystalline and less agglomeration, and more active sites which enhanced the metal-support interaction. Approximately 0.2g of each catalyst was evaluated at 650–800 °C with a respective. CH4:CO2:N2 ratio of 1:1:2, gas hourly space velocity 30,000 mL g−1 h−1. The Ni/FSA demonstrated more conversion of CH4 (89%) over (67%) of Co/FSA at 800 °C. After 10 h of long-term reaction, the Ni/FSA exhibited more stability at 800 °C. TGA/DTA, Raman, and TEM results showed that spent Ni/FSA catalysts did not demonstrate signs of considerable nano-graphitic carbon or metal sintering as compared to Co/FSA catalysts, which had bigger crystallites of Co. The finding of this study would add new knowledge on reaction conditions involving and catalytic activities of the metals over the FSA.