Abstract
Dry reforming of methane converts two greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2) into valuable syngas (H2 and CO). Ni catalysts are commonly used for this reaction and suffer deactivation due to carbon deposition. Efforts have been devoted to improving catalyst performance including developing new catalyst formulation and synthesis methods. In this work, we started with an ordinary Ni/Al2O3 catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness impregnation method, and carefully controlled the reduction process that activates the catalyst. With a novel control technique assisted by IR spectroscopy, we were able to well control the reduction extent in full range for the Ni catalyst. Four reduction extents (41%, 75%, 89%, and 100%) were tested for its effects on catalyst performance. It was found that 41% reduced catalyst suffered from rapid deactivation while the others performed very well with no clear sign of deactivation within 24 h of reaction time. Catalyst tests show that the performance of the 75% reduced catalyst was comparable to the top performers in the literature with CH4 and CO2 conversions close to the thermodynamic limit. This work would open up great opportunities for tuning catalyst performance without incurring exotic catalyst formulation and complex synthesis methods.
Published on: December 18, 2020
doi: 10.17756/acce.2020-02
Citation: Li M, Li H, Cheng K, Ren J, Chen Y. 2020. Controlling the Reduction Extent for Optimal Performance of a Ni/Al2O3 Dry Reforming Catalyst. J Appl Cat Chem Eng 1(1): 2-10.
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