Production of hydrogen by methane dry reforming over ruthenium-nickel based catalysts deposited on Al2O3, MgAl2O4, and YSZ

In this work, monometallic (1 wt% of Ru or 5 wt% of Ni) and bimetallic catalysts (1 wt% Ru-5 wt.% Ni) deposited on alumina (Al2O3), magnesium aluminate spinel (MgAl2O4), and yttriastabilized zirconia (YSZ) were prepared by wet impregnation. The synthesis method of MgAl2O4 was optimized and a well crystallized phase with high specific surface area was obtained by using wet impregnation, as a simple and low cost route, at 800 °C for 2 h. The catalytic activity was compared at atmospheric pressure and 750 °C toward methane dry reforming (DRM) reaction with a molar ratio CH4/CO2 ¼ 1/1 and a Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) of 60.000 mL g-1.h-1. Catalytic activity classification was obtained as the following: Ni/MgAl2O4 > Ru-Ni/ Al2O3 > Ru-Ni/MgAl2O4 > Ru-Ni/YSZ > Ni/Al2O3 > Ni/YSZ > Ru/Al2O3 > Ru/YSZ » Ru/MgAl2O4. Between the different catalysts, 5 wt% Ni/MgAl2O4 catalyst exhibited excellent catalytic activity for DRM. Furthermore, this catalyst was found to be very stable without any deactivation after 50 h under reacting mixture with a low carbon formation rate (3.58 mgC/gcat/h). Such superior activity and stability of MgAl2O4 supported Ni catalyst is consistent with characterization results from BET, XRD, TPR, CO-pulse chemisorption and CHNS analysis. It can be due to a strong interaction between Ni and MgAl2O4 leading to theincorporation of Ni into the spinel lattice and the formation of oxygen vacancies offering a benefit for DRM reaction. Furthermore, it seems that the addition of ruthenium onto Ni/MgAl2O4 decreases the interaction between Ni and the spinel leading to a decrease in the catalyst performance. On the other side, the addition of ruthenium on Ni/Al2O3 leads to an increase in the catalyst stability and efficiency by inhibiting the formation of poorly active phase NiAl2O4 already observed in TPR.