Hydrogen or synthesis gas production via the partial oxidation of methane over supported nickel–cobalt catalysts

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy Vol. 32; no. 6; pp. 725 - 730
• Main Authors: Koh, Alaric C.W., Chen, Luwei, Kee Leong, Weng, Johnson, Brian F.G., Khimyak, Tetyana, Lin, Jianyi
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01-05-2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Alternative fuels. Production and utilization; Applied sciences; Cobalt; Energy; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; Nickel; Partial oxidation of methane; Synthesis gas; Nickel; Cobalt; Synthesis gas; Hydrogen production; Partial oxidation of methane; Methane; Energy analysis; Scanning electron microscopy; Hydrogen; Catalyst selectivity; Partial oxidation; Supported catalyst; Transmission electron microscopy; Carbon monoxide
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2006.08.002

Activity, selectivity, and coking-resistance of a series of
Ni
x
Co
y
(where
x
,
y
are the respective metal loadings of 0, 1, 2 or 3
wt.%;
x
+
y
=
3
) bimetallic catalysts supported on
CaAl
2
O
4
/
Al
2
O
3
have been studied for hydrogen/synthesis gas production via the catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of methane. Catalysts were characterized by temperature programmed reduction (TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray fluorescence multi-element analysis (XRF). Their activity for the partial oxidation of methane to hydrogen and carbon monoxide (at 1
bar, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of
144
,
000
cm
3
g
-
1
h
-
1
and CH
4/O
2 molar ratio of 2) was investigated, and coke deposited on the spent catalysts was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The activity was found to decrease in the order of
Ni
2
Co
>
Ni
3
>
NiCo
2
⪢
Co
3
, while CO and H
2 selectivities were found to be in the order
of
Ni
2
Co
>
Ni
3
≈
NiCo
2
>
Co
3
. Ni
2Co is also shown to be more resistant to coking as compared to Ni
3, which is a current catalyst of choice. Results show that not only does Ni
2Co have the highest activity and selectivity among all the catalysts tested, it is also relatively resistant to coking. This finding would be helpful for catalyst design to achieve high coking resistivity catalysts for hydrogen production from CPO of methane.