CO and CO2 methanation over Ni catalysts supported on CeO2, Al2O3 and Y2O3 oxides

Methanation of carbon oxides (CO and CO) was studied over Ni-based catalysts supported on CeO, AlO, and YO oxides. Catalysts were synthesized by solution combustion synthesis and characterized by N-physisorption, XRD, H-TPR, TEM, CO-chemisorption, UV-vis DRS, XPS, and CO-TPD. The effect of reaction temperature (250-500 °C) was investigated under atmospheric pressure, space velocity (GHSV) of 10,000 h, and stoichiometric reactants ratio of (H-CO)/(CO + CO) = 3. It can be concluded that the nature of Ni-support interactions played a crucial role in enhancing CO and CO hydrogenation at low reaction temperature. Ni/CeO catalyst deactivated rapidly due to coke deposition, while the formation of NiAlO spinel explained the lower activity of the AlO-supported system. Activity data for Ni/YO catalysts were closely related to the degree of Ni dispersion as well as to the medium-strength basicity. Good anti-coking and anti-sintering ability were observed after 200 h of lifetime test.