Synthesis of anodic alumina nickel catalysts and deactivation studies over them for methane steam reforming under accelerated degradation testing

An anodic alumina supported 17.9 wt% Ni catalyst shows an excellent catalytic performance during steam reforming of methane at 700°C under W/F = 6.33 × 10^-3 g-cat·h/L, even when compared with some commercial Ni and Ru reforming catalysts. This is considered to be the result of the existence of an interfacial NiAl₂O₄ layer, which could anchor the top metallic nickel particles to prevent them from reacting with the alumina support and sintering, thereby, effectively suppressing carbon deposition. Nevertheless, for the industrialization of anodic nickel catalysts, some effort should be made to alleviate the deterioration of anodic supports, because when subjected to a higher W/F as 1.27 × 10^-3 g-cat·h/L, the catalyst shows irreversible deactivation, and little improvement is seen by increasing nickel spinel content and metal loading or modifying the impregnation solution pH.