The Effect of Calcination Temperature on Various Sources of ZrO2 Supported Ni Catalyst for Dry Reforming of Methane

Dry reforming of methane (DRM) over an Ni-based catalyst is an innovative research area due to the growing environmental awareness about mitigating global warming gases (CH4 and CO2) and creating a greener route of synthesis. Herein, 5% Ni supported on ZrO2 obtained from various sources was prepared by the impregnation method. The catalysts were calcined at 600, 700, and 800 degrees C. Furthermore, Ni-RC stabilized with MgO, SiO2, TiO2, and Y2O3 were tested. Characterization techniques employed comprise the N-2 physisorption, infrared spectroscopy, Raman, thermogravimetric analysis, XRD, and TEM. The results of the present study indicated that the ZrO2 support source had a profound effect on the overall performance of the process. The best catalyst Ni-RC gave an average conversion of CH4 and CO2 of 61.5% and 63.6% and the least deactivation of 10.3%. The calcination pretreatment differently influenced the catalyst performance. When the average methane conversion was higher than 40%, increasing the calcination temperature decreased the activity. While for the low activity catalysts with an average methane conversion of less than 40% the impact of the calcination temperature did not constantly decrease with the temperature rise. The stabilization of Ni-RC denoted the preference Y2O3 stabilized catalyst with average values of CH4 and CO2 conversion of about 67% and 72%, respectively. The thorough study and fine correlation will be advantageous for technologically suitable Ni-15Y-RC catalysts for DRM.