Syngas production by methane oxy-steam reforming on Me/CeO2 (Me = Rh, Pt, Ni) catalyst lined on cordierite monoliths

The deposition of catalytic layers as Rh, Pt, Ni (noble metals load equal to 1.5 wt.%, Ni load equal to 7.5 wt.%) on CeO2, over cordierite monoliths (400 cpsi, diameter 1 cm, length 1.5 cm), prepared through a combination of the Solution Combustion Synthesis followed by the Wet Impregnation technique, was investigated. The performances of the structured catalysts were evaluated towards the methane Oxy-Steam Reforming (OSR) reaction. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts at powder level were investigated by X-ray Diffraction, CO chemisorption and nitrogen adsorption (BET), whereas the characteristics of the structured catalysts in terms of thickness and coating integrity were investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), mechanical strength and pressure drop tests. Moreover, the morphology of catalytic layers was investigated by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) on the powder obtained by mechanically scraping the monoliths internal walls. The prepared structured catalysts were tested and compared towards the CH4 OSR reaction varying the temperature (500–800 °C), the weight space velocity (WSV = 33,000–400,000 Nml gcat–1 h–1), at fixed molecular oxygen-to-carbon (O/C = 0.55) and steam-to-carbon (S/C = 1.2) molar ratios. The catalytic monoliths presented a uniform thin coating with thickness between 20–25 μm, high mechanical strength and low pressure drop. Regarding the catalytic activity, at low WSV all of the structured catalysts showed similar performances. Instead, increasing the WSV, the catalytic monolith loaded with 1.5 wt.% Rh/CeO2 performed slightly better than the other samples, maintaining almost constant the methane conversion and the CO selectivity even at 400,000 Nml gcat–1 h–1.