Steam reforming of shale gas in a packed bed reactor with and without chemical looping using nickel based oxygen carrier

The catalytic steam reforming of shale gas was examined over NiO on Al2O3 and NiO on CaO/Al2O3 in the double role of catalysts and oxygen carrier (OC) when operating in chemical looping in a packed bed reactor at 1 bar pressure and S:C 3. The effects of gas hourly space velocity GHSV (h−1), reforming temperatures (600-750 °C) and catalyst type on conventional steam reforming (C-SR) was first evaluated. The feasibility of chemical looping steam reforming (CL-SR) of shale gas at 750 °C with NiO on CaO/Al2O3 was then assessed and demonstrated a significant deterioration after about 9 successive reduction-oxidation cycles. But, fuel conversion was high over 80% approximately prior to deterioration of the catalyst/OC, that can be strongly attributed to the high operating temperature in favour of the steam reforming process.