Application of Coprecipitated Nickel Catalyst to Steam Reforming of Higher Hydrocarbons in Membrane Reactor

The Ni/ La2O3-Al2O3 catalyst prepared by a coprecipitation method was used for hydrogen production from steam reforming of higher hydrocarbons in a palladium membrane reactor. The catalyst was characterized by low-temperature N2 physical adsorption, H2 temperature-programmed reduction, H2-O2 chemisorption, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that there was strong interaction between NiO and the support. Compared with the conventional fixed-bed reactor, the yield of H2 increased significantly and the formation of methane was suppressed in the Pd membrane reactor because of the selective removal of H2 by the membrane. Even under the near-practical application conditions, e.g., high gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) and small flux of sweep gas, the high yield of H2 and the high membrane separation efficiency were still achieved. Furthermore, no degradation of the membrane was observed even under working conditions of 823 K and steam-to-carbon feed ratio of 2.7. This suggested that it was feasible to realize H2 production from steam reforming of higher hydrocarbons using only one reactor and one nickel-based reforming catalyst at reaction temperatures lower than 823 K.