Hydrogen production via steam reforming of methane over Ni-supported Na Y zeolite catalysts

Abstract

The development of steam reforming catalysts recently involves solving the risk of catalytic deactivation caused by carbon deposition and the sintering of metal crystallites. In this research, supported Ni catalysts were developed over NaY zeolite. The catalysts were prepared by two different methods; ion-exchange and incipient wetness impregnation. The catalytic reaction was performed at 700 C under atmospheric pressure with various steam/carbon ratios of 1, 1.5, and 2. The effect of metal loading was investigated in terms of carbon formation, activity and selectivity. XRD, TPR, TPO and SAA were applied for the catalyst characterization, which revealed that 11% NiNaY prepared by impregnation exhibited higher activity than the ion-exchanged catalyst with an initial methane conversion of 89.84% and hydrogen selectivity of 88.80%; however, the stability of the ion-exchanged catalyst was slightly higher than that of the impregnated catalyst. In addition, the product distribution of the catalyst was investigated in a bench-scale fuel processor utilizing natural gas as the H2 carrier, The steam reformer generates a stable hydrogen content of approximately 83.59% with the undesired gas products concentration in the gas stream below 5% (dry basis).