Hydrogen Production by Catalytic Reforming of Gaseous Hydrocarbons (Methane & LPG)

Hydrogen has been attracting great interest as a major energy source in near future. The lack of an infrastructure has led to a research effort to develop fuel processing technology for production of hydrogen. In this review, we are reporting the catalytic reforming of gaseous hydrocarbons carried out in our research group, covering dry-reforming of CH4, tri-reforming of CH4, the electrocatalytic reforming of CH4 by CO2 in the SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) system and steam reforming of LPG. Especially, we have focused on our work, though the related work from other researchers is also discussed wherever necessary. It was found that tri-reforming of CH4 over NiO-YSZ-CeO2 catalyst was more desirable than dry-reforming of CH4 due to higher reforming activity and less carbon formation. The synthesis gas produced by tri-reforming of CH4 can be used for the production of dimethyl ether, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis fuels and high valued chemicals. To improve the problem of deactivation of catalyst due to carbon formation in the dry reforming of CH4, the internal reforming of CH4 by CO2 in SOFC system with NiO-YSZ-CeO2 anode catalyst was suggested for cogeneration of a syngas and electricity. It was found that Rh-spc-Ni/MgAl catalyst showed long term stability for 1,100 h in the steam reforming of LPG under the tested conditions. The addition of Rh to spc-Ni/MgAl catalyst restricted the deactivation of catalyst due to carbon formation in the steam reforming of LPG and diesel under the tested conditions. The result suggested that the developed reforming catalysts can be used in the reforming process of CH4, LNG and LPG for application to hydrogen station and fuel processor system.