CO2 Reforming of Methane to Produce Syngas over γ-Al2O3-Supported Ni-Sr Catalystsz

Dry reforming reactions have important environmental implications, since they can utilize and/or mitigate greenhouse gases. An experimental study was carried out to prepare suitable catalysts for dry reforming of methane. The Ni/gamma-Al2O3 supported catalysts with strontium as a promoter (0.00-2.25 wt %) were prepared by a wet impregnation method. Various experimental techniques such as N-2 adsorption-desorption isotherm, H-2-TPR, CO2-TPD, XRD, TGA, O-2-TPO, and SEM were applied for characterization of fresh and spent catalysts. The results of characterizations and catalyst activity test revealed that addition of Sr in Ni/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst has dual effect; it improves the metal support interaction as well as enhances the Lewis basicity of the catalyst. This boost in basicity favors the chemisorption and dissociation of CO2 over the catalyst which in turn decreases the coke deposition. Amongst all tested catalysts, best results in terms of coke suppression were attained when 0.75% Sr loading was used, which showed 3.8% weight loss, less than half of that of the parent Ni-Al catalyst (8.2 wt %).