Synthetic gas production by dry reforming of methane over Ni/Al2O3–ZrO2 catalysts: High H2/CO ratio

Abstract

Alumina prepared by the sol-gel method, was impregnated with zirconia (5, 15 and 30 wt.%). Subsequently, the resulting Al2O3–ZrO2 supports were impregnated with 15% Ni to obtain the Ni/Al2O3–ZrO2 catalysts. The obtained catalysts were characterized by BET, SEM, XRD, H2-TPR and TPD- CO2. The catalytic activity was studied by means of dry reforming of methane (DRM) for syngas production. The catalysts displayed different physicochemical properties and trends of their catalytic activity as a function of the ZrO2 content in the mixed oxide supports. For instance, ZrO2 (5 wt %) in the catalyst, led to enhanced concentration of the medium strength basic sites and increased specific surface area, yielding thus the best performance in the DRM, with low carbon deposition after 36 h of reaction, compared with the other catalysts. This indicates that during the DRM reaction, this catalyst can provide more surface oxygen to prevent carbon deposits that could deactivate the catalyst.