Carbon dioxide reforming of methane over nickel catalyst supported on ceramic foam

Abstract

Carbon dioxide reforming of CH4 was investigated over Ni catalyst supported on ceramic foam, which was a macro-porous medium. The catalyst showed a stable activity, and the pressure drop in a continuous flow reactor did not increase. On the other hand, the pressure drop increased on an industrial Ni catalyst by the carbonaceous deposition. The experiment was carried out in a pure CH4 flow in order to accelerate the carbonaceous deposition rate. The ceramic foam catalyst suppressed the increase in pressure of the reactor even though carbon deposited to a certain extent. It was revealed that the performance of the ceramic foam catalyst was due to its high porosity.