Development of Cu foam-based Ni catalyst for solar thermal reforming of methane with carbon dioxide

Using solar energy to produce syngas via the endothermic reforming of methane has been extensively investigated at the laboratory- and pilot plant-scales as a promising method of storing solar energy. One of the challenges to scaling up this process in a tubular reformer is to improve the reactor's performance, which is limited by mass and heat transfer issues. High thermal conductivity Cu foam was therefore used as a substrate to improve the catalyst's thermal conductivity during solar reforming. We also developed a method to coat the foam with the catalytically active component NiMg3AlOx. The Cu foam-based NiMg3AlOx performs better than catalysts supported on SiSiC foam, which is currently used as a substrate for solar-reforming catalysts, at high gas hourly space velocity (≥400,000 mL/(g·h)) or at low reaction temperatures (≤ 720 °C). The presence of a γ-Al2O3 intermediate layer improves the adhesion between the catalyst and substrate as well as the catalytic activity.

Graphical abstract20Ni-γCu catalyst has higher activity as compared with the 20Ni-γSiSiC catalyst at 650 °C, similar activity at 720 °C and lower activity at 800 °C.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide