Development of a Catalyst/Sorbent for Methane-Steam Reforming

In order to improve the efficiency of methane steam reforming process. a part of the system which produces hydrogen from heavy hydrocarbon resources such as coal, we combined metal catalyst with CaO sorbent and fabricated catalyst/sorbent. To increase the porosity and the compressive strength of sorbent. carbon black and a-alumina were mixed with CaO powder during preparation. The effects of sorbent composition on the physical properties were investigated by SEM, TGA, BET, XRD, abrasion strength measuring device and adsorption-desorption instrument. Sorbent with 5 wt% Al2O3 and 10 wt% carbon black showed the best physical features with 7.61 kg(f) strength and 47% CO2 adsorption capability. Various metal catalysts such as Ni, Co and Fe were supported on the sorbent developed and 10 wt% Ni/sorbent was selected for methane steam reforming process based on the result of reaction experiment. The reaction system using the catalyst/sorbent showed better H-2 productivity compared to the detached system with catalyst and sorbent, indicating the effectiveness of the system developed in this study.