Steam reforming for syngas production over Ni and Ni-promoted catalysts

In this article, nanocrystalline gamma-alumina with high surface area (309 m(2) g(-1)) and mesoporous structure with an average pore size of 4.3 nm was synthesized and employed as a carrier for the synthesis of Ni catalysts in steam reforming of methane. The results revealed that the metal-support interaction decreased by increasing the nickel loading and led to the movement of the T-max of reduction temperature to lower temperatures. The results demonstrated that the synthesized catalysts exhibited high CH4 conversion and stability and increasing the nickel loading up to 10 wt% improved the CH4 conversion. The results revealed that the incorporation of MgO in nickel catalyst improved the resistance of the catalyst against carbon deposition and also enhanced the catalytic activity and the 10%Ni-5%MgO-Al2O3 catalyst exhibited high stability during 60 h. The high stability of the promoted catalyst was related to the high basicity of the catalyst.