Partial Oxidation of Methane to Syngas over Monolithic Ni/γ-Al2O3 Catalyst——Effects of Rare Earths and Other Basic Promoters

A series of monolithic Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalysts with and without basic promoters (Na, Sr, La, Ce) were prepared. Partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syngas was carried out in a continuous-flow, fixed-bed reactor. The influences of reaction conditions, including temperature, CH4/O2 ratio and space velocity, on the performance of the catalyst were investigated. The results show that at a high space velocity of 1 × 105 h−1, optimal CH4 conversion can be obtained. Effects of promoters such as Na, Sr, Ce, La were also investigated, and the catalyst samples were characterized by means of temperature-programmed reduction and XRD techniques. XRD suggests that the addition of promoters has no influence on the crystal structure of Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The results show that the addition of a small amount of promoters improves the reducibility and activity of the catalyst. The side reaction CH4 + 2 O2→CO2 + H2O, is fully restrained and 100% H2 selectivity is achieved when Ce and La are used as promoters, respectively.