Tri-reforming of coal bed methane to syngas over the Ni-Mg-ZrO2 catalyst

Ni-ZrO2 and Ni-Mg-ZrO2 catalysts were prepared by a co-precipitation method, and then were characterized by BET, XRD, H2-TPR and CO2-TPD techniques. The performances of catalysts in the tri-reforming of coal bed methane to syngas were studied in a fixed bed reactor. The reaction conditions (temperature and feed gas composition) were mainly investigated. The results showed that at t=800°C, atmospheric pressure, CH4/CO2/H2O/O2/N2=1.0/0.45/0.45/0.1/0.4, GHSV=30000 mL·g−1·h−1, about 99% of CH4 conversion, 65% of CO2 conversion, and VH2/VCO of 1.5 could be achieved during 58 h of reaction, which are related to the strong metal-support interaction, the good thermal stability and basic nature of the catalyst. Furthermore, high temperature favors the tri-reforming of methane. By adjusting the feed gas composition, a specific VH2/VCO could be achieved.