Catalytic performance of Ni-Cu/Al2O3 for effective syngas production by methanol steam reforming

This work investigates the catalytic performance of bimetallic Ni-Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts for syngas production by methanol steam reforming. The synthesis and characterization of a series of Ni_x-Cu_y/Al₂O₃ catalysts with various stoichiometric fractions (x=10, 7, 5, 3 and 0 wt% and y=0, 3, 5, 7 and 10 wt% to Al₂O₃ support, respectively) are investigated and discussed. The catalytic performance is evaluated experimentally at temperature range of 225–325 °C. Both mono-metallic catalyst (10wt%Cu/Al₂O₃ and 10wt%Ni/Al₂O₃) and bi-metallic catalysts (7wt %Cu-3wt%Ni/Al₂O₃, 5wt%Cu-5wt%Ni/Al₂O₃ and 3wt%Cu-7wt%Ni/Al₂O₃) are synthesized using an impregnation method and characterized by means of SEM, temperature programmed reduction (TPR), BET analysis, XRD and TGA. It is found that the bimetallic Ni-Cu catalyst had a strong influence on the amount of CO₂ and CO produced due to the different selectivity towards the water gas shift reaction and methanol decomposition reaction. The increase of the Ni content leads to an increase in CO and decrease in CO₂ yields. The bimetallic catalyst did not produce CH₄, revealing that Cu alloying in Ni catalyst had an inhibiting effect for CO and/or CO₂ hydrogenation.