Tuning Metal–Support Interactions on Ni/Al2O3 Catalysts to Improve Catalytic Activity and Stability for Dry Reforming of Methane

Lulu He,Shik Chi Edman Tsang,Heyong He,Bin Yue,Yuanhang Ren

doi:10.3390/pr9040706

Lulu He, Shik Chi Edman Tsang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/pr9040706

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Journal: Processes	Publication Date: Apr 16, 2021
Citations: 39	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Fudan University, University of Oxford

Abstract

Ni-based catalysts supported on alumina derived from the pseudo-boehmite prepared by the impregnation method were employed for catalytic dry reforming of methane reaction at the temperature of 550–750 °C. The effect of calcination temperature on physicochemical properties such as the Ni dispersion, reduction degree, nickel crystallite sizes, and metal–support interaction of the catalysts was investigated. The characterization results show that increasing the catalyst calcination temperature leads to the formation of nickel-alumina spinel, which enhances the metal–support interaction and increases the reduction temperature. The nickel nanoparticle size decreases and the effective dispersion increases with the increasing calcination temperature from 450 °C to 750 °C due to the formation of nickel aluminate. The catalyst calcined at 750 °C exhibits the highest CH4 and CO2 conversion owing to the small Ni0 active sites and high Ni dispersion. In a 200 h stability test in dry reforming of methane at 700 °C, the Ni/Al2O3-750 catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic stability and anti-coking ability.

Highlights

With the huge development of modern industrialization, global warming and climate change caused by CO2 emission from the combustion of conventional fossil fuels have become serious problems in recent years [1,2]
Compared with the partial oxidation and steam reforming of methane, dry reforming of methane is industrially advantageous due to the syngas with a low H2 /CO molar ratio of nearly 1, which is more appropriate for the synthesis of hydrocarbons with long-chain through the Fischer–Tropsch reaction [12,13,14,15]
We investigate the effect of calcination temperature on the catalytic performance of alumina supported Ni-based catalysts in dry reforming of methane reaction

Summary

Introduction

With the huge development of modern industrialization, global warming and climate change caused by CO2 emission from the combustion of conventional fossil fuels have become serious problems in recent years [1,2]. CH4 from petroleum resources and landfills is a major contributor to greenhouse gases [3,4]. As an abundant alternative to petroleum and coal, natural gas and biogas that are rich in CH4 have become the main energy resources [5,6,7,8]. The dry reforming of methane (Equation (1)), which can simultaneously utilize methane and carbon dioxide, is significant to alleviate the energy crisis and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [9,10,11]. Compared with the partial oxidation and steam reforming of methane, dry reforming of methane is industrially advantageous due to the syngas with a low H2 /CO molar ratio of nearly 1, which is more appropriate for the synthesis of hydrocarbons with long-chain through the Fischer–Tropsch reaction [12,13,14,15]

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