Synthesis Gas Production via CO2 Reforming Using Ni-Based Catalysts

This project has a main objective namely the development of nickel, Ni-based catalyst for the synthesis gas (syngas) production via CO2 reforming of methane. The production of syngas via dry reforming has not been commercialized due to unavailability of a suitable catalyst which is active and have low deactivation rate. The main issue on the dry reforming catalyst is the coke deposition and sintering of catalyst particles. Therefore, this project will focus on development of coke-free and highly dispersed Ni-based catalyst for the CO2 reforming reaction. The project aims to develop Ni-based catalyst for CO2 reforming process by synthesizing via impregnation method on various oxide supports. The Ni-based catalysts will be characterized in terms of particle size, surface area, porosity, phase, surface composition and reducibility properties. The characterization will be done by various microscopic and spectroscopic methods. Then, the activity of the Ni-based catalyst in the CO2 reforming will be studied in a high-temperature fixed bed micro-reactivity reactor. The dependence of the products composition (H2:CO ratio) on the catalyst properties will be monitored This work studied the performance of Ni-based catalysts supported with various oxides supports (ZrO2/Al2O3, MgO/Al2O3) for the production of synthesis gas through CO2 reforming of CH4. The catalysts were prepared by impregnation method. The catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, FESEM, TEM and EDX analysis. According to XRD, good interaction between active phase and support can be observed in Ni/MgO-Al2O3 catalyst. The morphology in Ni/MgO-Al2O3 is uniform, besides having well dispersed particles on active sites. The Ni/ZrO2-Al2O3 however shows a higher surface area but showing a less homogenous dispersion of active phase due to sintering of Zr particles. The catalytic performance of the CO2 reforming indicates that the Ni/ ZrO2-Al2O3 catalyst shows the best catalytic behaviour. This is closely related to the formation of Ni active sites finely dispersed on the surface of the support induced by the strong nickel oxide, NiO support interaction