Oxidative Steam Reforming and Steam Reforming of Methane, Isooctane, and N-Tetradecane over an Alumina Supported Spinel-Derived Nickel Catalyst

Abstract

The present work is focused on analyzing the potential of an alumina-supported spinel-derived nickel catalyst for oxidative steam reforming and steam reforming of model hydrocarbons present in gasoline and diesel, namely, isooctane and n-tetradecane, respectively. For comparative purposes these reforming processes have also been investigated for methane, and the catalytic behavior of a commercial rhodium catalyst has been evaluated as well. When operating with a relatively high volume hourly space velocity (equivalent to 60 000 cm3 C g–1 h–1) at a low temperature (600 °C) for 31 h time on stream, the activity of the investigated nickel catalyst is high and, more importantly, stable in the reforming of methane (by either steam reforming or oxidative steam reforming) and the oxidative steam reforming of isooctane. As for n-tetradecane a significant loss of activity with time on line is found, more pronounced under steam reforming conditions. Although the presence of oxygen helps in controlling coking, the reforming of this heavy feed unavoidably results in a substantial formation of graphitic filaments with a high chemical stability. Additionally, sintering and partial oxidation of the metallic phase have been also observed, mainly under oxidative steam reforming conditions. Finally, it can be concluded that when compared with a commercial rhodium catalyst, the prepared nickel catalyst derived from NiAl2O4 is a more efficient reforming catalyst for fuels with varying chemical nature.

Alumina-Supported Spinel NiAl2O4 as a Catalyst for Re-forming Pyrolysis Gas

“…In some research, the nickel species were divided into three types depending on the different reduction temperatures, the free NiO, the “surface NiAl 2 O 4 ”, and the crystalline spinel NiAl 2 O 4 . Other research , also reported the same phenomenon in nickel-based alumina and named the reducible Ni 2+ species with α, β, and γ. However, it should be noticed that there is also a reduction peak of nickel species in their results when the temperature is less than 300 °C, which they both neglected.…”

“…In addition, the NiAl 2 O 4 catalyst was reported for syngas production via dry re-forming of methane and the physical–chemical properties of the catalyst were discussed. Some research , also prepared the catalysts derived from NiAl 2 O 4 using different methods and applied them into oxidative steam re-forming and steam re-forming of methane. It was demonstrated that a spinel NiAl 2 O 4 catalyst is a more efficient catalyst with various chemical nature compared with commercial catalyst.…”

Oxy-Steam Reforming of Natural Gas on Ni Catalysts—A Minireview

“…The OSRM reaction provide safe operating conditions without need to supply of huge amount of external heat to run the process. Jimenez-Gonzalez et al [145] also studied the activity of Ni/γ-Al 2 O 3 catalyst in the oxidative steam reforming of methane, isooctane and N-tetradecane reactions. For comparison, authors tested the commercial Rh/Al 2 O 3 catalyst in these processes.…”

Production of Hydrogen-Rich Gas by Oxidative Steam Reforming of Dimethoxymethane over CuO-CeO2/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst

“…It is well known that the temperature distribution in the catalytic reactor can be optimized by a combination of steam reforming (1) and partial oxidation (3) reactions [20][21][22]. The oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of hydrocarbons and oxygenates is being studied not only to minimize the cold/hot spot effect in the catalytic reactor, but in some cases the reaction shows enhanced effectivity over steam reforming or partial oxidation [20,21].…”

“…In particular, Velu et al [20,21] found that methanol OSR was more efficient in many aspects than methanol SR and methanol PO for hydrogen production. Moreover, the presence of oxygen in the reaction mixture helps to control coking by the efficient removal of carbonaceous species produced during the reaction [22].…”