Autothermal reforming of methane to syngas using co-precipitated Ni-(La2O3)(x)-(ZrO2)(1-x) catalyst

Abstract

Two different catalysts, Ni-(ZrO2) and Ni-(La2O3)(0.1)-(ZrO2)(0.9), were synthesized to use as catalysts in the autothermal reforming of methane. Ni-(ZrO2) catalyst without lanthanum prepared in this study has a good initial performance, but as the reactions keep progressing, the activities gradually decrease. In contrast, the activities of Ni-(La2O3)(0.1)-(ZrO2)(0.9) catalyst have high thermal stability and coke resistance due to the presence of La. Both methane conversion and hydrogen yield of Ni-(La2O3)(0.1)-(ZrO2)(0.9) in non-reduced form are better than reduced form and as good as commercial Ni-based catalyst (ICI 57-4).