Metal CuxNiy/2 Titania-Ceria Catalysts for Effective Syngas Production in Methanol Steam Reforming

Abstract

Methanol steam reforming (MSR) is often used in hydrogen production and hydrogen-rich syngas at low temperatures. In this work, a series of CuxNiy/2TiO2-CeO2 binary active metal catalysts are proposed for effective syngas production in MSR. It can be achieved that the methanol conversion of Ni-containing catalysts is generally higher than that of Cu-based catalysts, and the improvement of active metal Ni on methanol conversion is better than that of active metal Cu in the whole reaction process at low temperatures. It can be found from characterization results that Cu contributes to the increase of oxygen vacancy and promotion of active sites, and Ni can adjust the active metal size and stabilize the reaction process. During the experimental process, the Ni-containing catalyst is more inclined to a methanol decomposition reaction for producing CO, and the increase of the Ni content leads to an increase in CO production and a decrease in CO2 production. This work proves that CuxNiy/2TiO2-CeO2 catalysts have a higher methanol conversion than Cu-based catalysts. Furthermore, by adjusting the composition of CuxNiy/2TiO2-CeO2 catalysts and the corresponding reaction temperature, an appropriate H2/CO ratio can be obtained to produce the required syngas. This study provides an efficient method aimed at obtaining suitable H2/CO syngas.