Catalytic partial oxidation of CH4 with nickel–lanthanum-based catalysts

The aim of this work, concerning with the partial oxidation of methane to syngas in a self-sustained short contact time reactor using pure oxygen as oxidant, was the development of perovskite-based nickel–lanthanum (LaNiO3 with Ni partially substituted by Co and Pt) catalysts and the comparison of their performance with that of 5% nickel on alumina catalyst. The prepared catalytic materials were arranged in a fixed bed and the activity tests were carried out by increasing the WHSV from ∼130 to ∼560 N l h−1 gcat−1. Perovskite-based catalysts were characterized by performances lower than that of 5% Ni/Al2O3. The very low perovskites catalytic performance towards the partial oxidation of methane was mainly due to the high reducibility of their structures into La2O3, metallic Ni, and Ni oxides; moreover, La and Ni species further reacted with the CPO reaction products CO2 and H2O leading thus to the formation of the poorly active species La(OH)3, La2NiO4 and La2O2CO3.