CO2 reforming of methane catalyzed by Ni-loaded zeolite-based catalysts

The catalytic performance of nickel-loaded, zeolite-based support for CO2 reforming of methane was investigated. Among the three zeolites employed (H-Y, H-mordenite, and Na-mordenite), H-mordenite was found to be the best support for the above reaction, probably due to its thermal stability. Comparing the activity of Ni/H-mordenite (Ni/HM) with conventional Ni/alumina catalyst (Ni/Al2O3), the authors found that initial activity of Ni/HM was higher than that of Ni/Al2O3, while deactivation of the former proceeded at a slightly faster rate than that of the latter. It was also found that a physical mixture of alumina and zeolite, and composite support consisting of alumina and zeolite, became a more effective support than zeolite itself The resulting Ni/H-mordenite-alumina catalyst (Ni/Mix or Ni/Cmp) showed the highest performance among the catalysts employed in the present study: under the conditions of atmospheric pressure Of CO2/CH4/H-2 stream (20/20/40 mL/min) at 700 degreesC, initial CO2 conversions were ca. 90%, this value being maintained for at least 3 days.