Fluidizable catalyst for methane reforming Original Research Article

Fluidizable catalysts are developed in this study for advancing an integral approach towards a new methane reforming process. With this end, catalysts constituted by nickel supported on α-alumina, NaY, and USY were developed using the incipient wetness technique producing bulk nickel loadings in the 0–20 wt.% range. These catalysts were also tested under relevant conditions for industrial operation in a novel Riser Simulator. It was found that, for the case of ‘dry’ reforming of methane, nickel deposited in zeolites is a promising catalyst given that it allows for close control of metal dispersion–redispersion process. In fact, when this catalyst was exposed to repeated oxidation and reduction cycles, nickel dispersions remained stable at 25% for NaY zeolite and at 15% for USY zeolite. This catalyst offers, however, limited application for steam reforming of methane given the potential collapse of the zeolite structure under steam atmosphere. As an alternative and for cases where steam reforming of methane is preferred, nickel on α-alumina catalyst was considered. In these cases, optimum catalytic activity was achieved with 2.5 wt.% of nickel on α-alumina with 3–6% nickel dispersion.