Synthetic natural gas from CO hydrogenation over silicon carbide supported nickel catalysts

Silicon carbide supported nickel catalysts for CO methanation were prepared by impregnation method. The activity of the catalysts was tested in a fixed-bed reactor with a stream of H2/CO = 3 without diluent gas. The results show that 15 wt.% Ni/SiC catalyst calcined at 550 °C exhibits excellent catalytic activity. As compared with 15 wt.% Ni/TiO2 catalyst, the Ni/SiC catalyst shows higher activity and stability in the methanation reaction. The characterization results from X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy suggest that no obvious catalyst sintering has occurred in the Ni/SiC catalyst due to the excellent thermal stability and high heat conductivity of SiC.

► Ni/SiC catalyst exhibits high activity and stability for CO methanation.
► The performance of Ni/SiC catalyst is far better than commonly used Ni/TiO2.
► The merits result from excellent thermal stability and conductivity of SiC.