Rh-CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts for the Partial Oxidation of Methane

P. BENITO; A. BALLARINI; G. FORNASARI; F. OSPITALI; O. SCELZA; L. VALENTINI; A. VACCARI

Kasan

Congreso; 12th European Congress on Catalysis - EuropaCat-XII, Kazan, Russia; 2015

The catalytic partial oxidation of CH4 to syngas is an exothermic process that achieves high CH4 conversion and selectivity to syngas at short contact times and autothermally. However, the harsh reaction conditions may lead to catalyst deactivation. A lot of efforts have been devoted to develop active and stable catalysts also reducing the formation of hot spots. Rh is the most active metal and the performances of Rh catalysts are related to the support and preparation route, which determine its dispersion and stability against sintering. γ-Al2O3 shows large specific surface area, making it possible to obtain highly dispersed metallic particles. However, its acidic character promotes carbon formation and it suffers from phase changes at high temperatures, leading to the sintering and deactivation of the catalyst. The stabilization of γ-Al2O3 by addition of Ce is well-known and the chemical role of Ce in the evolution of CPO was reported; however the modification of the performances due to the changes in surface area and Rh dispersion could not be investigated. In this work, we studied the role of Ce content (0, 5, 10 and 20 wt.% ) on chemical-physical and catalytic properties of Rh-CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts (0.25 wt.% Rh) under harsh reaction conditions.