Steam and CO2 reforming of methane over a Ru/ZrO2 catalyst

The kinetics of methane steam reforming over a Ru/ZrO2 catalyst was studied at 1.3 bar total pressure and in the temperature range 425–575 °C. These data were fitted by combining a reactor model with a series of kinetic models. The best fit was obtained by a model with methane dissociative adsorption as the rate limiting step and with CO and H adspecies partly blocking the active sites. The Ru/ZrO2 catalyst was characterized by TEM and H2 chemisorption. By comparison of ex situ and in situ TEM, it is evident that Ru particles with diameters of <2 nm are difficult to observe with ex situ TEM due to oxidation when exposed to air.

Graphical abstractModeling of methane steam reforming at 1.3 bar and 425–575 °C on a Ru/ZrO2 catalyst have shown that CO and H adspecies partly block the active sites. This reduces the activity significantly at low temperature (<500 °C) methane steam reforming experiments. For characterization in situ TEM is advised due to surface oxidation of the ruthenium particles at ambient conditions.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (57 K)Download as PowerPoint slide