Mesoporous Ba-promoted chromium free Fe2O3–Al2O3–NiO catalyst with low methanation activity for high temperature water gas shift reaction

•A new nanocrystalline Cr-free Fe–Al–Ni–Ba catalyst was evaluated in HTS reaction.•Ba promoter affected the CO conversion of the Fe–Al–Ni catalyst.•Fe–Al–Ni–Ba catalyst presented high activity compared to commercial Fe–Cr catalyst.•Effect of Ba on methanation suppression of the Fe–Al–Ni catalyst was studied.•Fe–Al–Ni–Ba catalyst showed partially high stability during 50 h in HTS reaction.

Mesoporous Ba-promoted chromium free Fe2O3–Al2O3–NiO catalyst with low methanation activity was prepared for a high temperature water gas shift reaction. The prepared catalyst showed high surface area of 165.5 m2 g− 1 with a particle size of 6.8 nm. This catalyst exhibited stable activity and higher CO removal rate compared to Fe2O3–Al2O3–NiO catalyst and commercial chromium containing one. The results revealed that the addition of Ba noticeably suppressed the methanation activity.

Graphical abstractBa-promoted catalyst exhibited higher activity and lower methane concentration in high temperature water gas shift reaction.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide