CO2 reforming of methane to synthesis gas over Rh-Ni/Ce/Al2O3 catalysts

MARCOS OCSACHOQUE; CLAUDIA QUINCOCES; FRANCISCO POMPEO; MARIA GLORIA GONZÁLEZ

Simposio; 9th Novel Gas Conversion Symposium; 2010

In recent years, renewed interest in the CO2 reforming of methane to synthesis gas has arisen. This process converts two of the cheapest carbon-containing gases into useful chemical products. This reaction is highly endothermic and the Ni catalysts typically used for this process become deactivated by carbon deposition and sintering of the metal. Therefore, preventing both problems is very important for the reforming reaction on a Ni catalyst. Noble metal- based catalysts have been found to be less sensible to deactivation. In order to increase the stability and the useful life of supported Ni catalysts, some elements were added acting as support modifiers or promoters of the active phase. Some researchers have reported that the addition of rare earth metal oxide improves the behaviour of alumina based catalysts used for differents reactions. CeO2 as a promoter can enhance the activity, stability and carbon resistance of Ni supported catalysts. By other hand, Rostrup Nielsen and Hansen founded that Ru and Rh provided high selectivities with carbon-free operations and high activities. In this work, the role of ceria and Rh as promoters in Rh-Ni/Ce-aAl2O3 catalyst is reported.