Applied Catalysis A: General, Vol.233, No.1-2, 35-44, 2002
Effective heat supply from combustion to reforming in methane reforming with CO2 and O-2: comparison between Ni and Pt catalysts
The temperature profile of the fixed catalyst bed in methane reforming with CO2 and O-2 was investigated over Pt/Al2O3 and Ni/Al2O3. The activities on Pt/Al2O3 and Ni/Al2O3 were in the same level in methane reforming with CO2. On the other hand, the activity of methane combustion over the catalysts was significantly different (Pt/Al2O3 much greater than Ni/Al2O3). In methane reforming with CO2 and O-2, methane conversion over Pt/Al2O3 was considerably higher than over Ni/Al2O3. From the profiles of bed temperature measurements under various reaction conditions, one sees that the distance between combustion and reforming zones becomes very short. This is related to the high reducibility of Pt metal itself, and Pt maintains metallic state in the combustion zone and under the presence of oxygen. In this case, the combustion heat can be supplied to the reforming reaction very effectively. The result can be connected to the synthesis gas production with high energy efficiency.