Steam reforming of simulated biogas over plate NiCr catalysts: Influence of pre-oxidation on catalytic activity

• An efficient and durable NiCr plate catalyst was developed for methane dry reforming.
• Pretreatment induced active site reconstruction, enhancing the activity and stability.
• The Cr2O3 played a critical role in preventing catalyst deactivation via sintering.

The activity and stability of NiCr plate catalysts were significantly enhanced by a pretreatment process involving pre-oxidation at ≥600 °C with subsequent reduction at 700 °C. Analytical techniques including SEM, TEM, and XPS-depth profiling studies revealed that the pretreatment induced surface reconstruction in the bulk NiCr material generating new Ni sites with improved activity. The catalytic activity was highly dependent upon the oxidation temperature. In addition to the creation of novel Ni sites, chromium oxide acted as a structural promoter to suppress sintering of the Ni active sites. Activation of the NiCr plate catalyst via pretreatment at 700 °C resulted in improved stability for biogas reforming reactions over a period of 100 h. Moreover, the stability of the reforming catalyst was sustained over 100 h with a steam/CH4 ratio of ≥ 1.5. The influences of temperature, inlet H2O/CH4 ratio, and CH4/CO2 ratios on the steam reforming of biogas were further studied.

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