Steam reforming of methanol on highly stable MgO–Al2O3 supported Ni–In intermetallic compounds

Abstract

MgO–Al2O3 supported metallic Ni and Ni–In intermetallic compounds (IMCs) with different Ni/In atomic ratios were prepared by co-precipitation, and their performance for methanol steam reforming (MSR) was tested on an atmospheric fixed-bed quartz reactor. It has been found that the supported Ni–In IMCs give remarkably higher selectivity to H2 than metallic Ni. On one hand, methanation is significantly suppressed on Ni–In IMCs. On the other hand, different from metallic Ni where methanol decomposes followed by water gas shift to generate H2, Ni–In IMCs promote the direct conversion of CH3OH and water to produce CO2 and H2. Among the as-prepared catalysts, the supported Ni2In IMC has the best performance. The methanol conversion and the selectivity of H2 reach about 85% and 97% at 300 °C, respectively, without obvious change during 80 h time on stream. The good stability of supported Ni2In IMC is attributed to its high resistance to Ni2In IMC particles sistering and carbon deposition.