Testing of a Ni‐Al₂O₃ Catalyst for Methane Steam Reforming Using Different Reaction Systems

Abstract

Abstract Ni‐Al 2 O 3 catalyst activity was tested for methane steam reforming using two different reaction systems: a catalyst particle bed (0.42–0.5 mm catalyst particles diluted in SiC) with a surface area‐to‐volume ratio SA/V of 910 m –1 and a porosity ϵ of 52 % and a catalyst‐coated metal monolith with an SA/V of 3300 m –1 and an ϵ of 86 %. Under a steam‐to‐carbon ratio of 2.5 and at a temperature of 700 °C, the highest specific reaction rates were found for the catalyst‐coated monolith. The high SA/V and ϵ, together with the high rate of heat transfer of the metal monolith were found to be responsible of this optimum behavior. However, in both systems, the Ni‐Al 2 O 3 catalyst suffered a catalyst deactivation during operation.