Steam reforming of methane to hydrogen over Ni-based metal monolith catalysts

Abstract

A series of Ni/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl metal monolith catalysts with different Ni contents (5 wt%, 10 wt% and 15 wt%) as well as 10% Ni/Ce x Zr 1− x O 2/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl ( x = 0, 0.5 and 1) metal monolith catalysts with Ce x Zr 1− x O 2 of 1.7 wt% were prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). The catalytic activity and stability of these catalysts for steam reforming of methane (SRM) were evaluated in a continuous flow microreactor. The results showed that Ni/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl metal monolith catalysts with Ni loading above 10 wt% had good catalytic activities under atmospheric pressure. For 10% Ni/Ce x Zr 1− x O 2/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl ( x = 0, 0.5 and 1) metal monolith catalysts, CeO 2 and Ce 0.5Zr 0.5O 2 as promoters can improve the activity and stability of metal monolith catalysts, while the addition of ZrO 2 can lead to the decrease of catalytic activity and stability. The 10% Ni/Ce 0.5Zr 0.5O 2/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl metal monolith catalyst exhibited excellent activity and stability at 800 °C for 110 h on stream. The activity of 10% Ni/SBA-15/Al 2O 3/FeCrAl metal monolith catalyst gradually decreased at 800 °C after 60 h on stream. The reason for this phenomenon is probably the formation of NiAl 2O 4 on the surface of catalyst.