Hydrogen production by steam reforming of methane over mixed Ni/MgAl + CrFe3O4 catalysts

Steam reforming of methane (SRM) was performed over a mixed Ni/MgAl + CrFe3O4 catalyst. The catalyst was prepared by physical mixing method and it was compared to Ni/MgAl and iron or chromium promoted M/Ni/MgAl catalysts prepared by impregnation method. Catalysts were characterized by various analytical techniques such as nitrogen physisorption, TPR, XRD, TGA and SEM. The catalytic activity in a fixed-bed reactor was investigated at a temperature range of 500-700 °C, 1 bar pressure and feed molar ratio of H2O/CH4 = 2. TPR and XRD illustrated that segregated Ni particles were observed with promoted M-Ni/MgAl catalysts and it leads to reduce the active Ni metal. The addition of the Cr/Fe3O4 catalyst activates steam and easily reacts with methane. Consequently, physically mixed catalysts showed higher hydrogen selectivity and methane conversion than the other catalysts.