Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Liquefied Natural Gas over Mesoporous Ni-Al 2 O 3 Catalysts Prepared by a Co-P

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Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Liquefied Natural Gas over Mesoporous Ni-Al2O3 Catalysts Prepared by a Co-Precipitation Method: Effect of Ni/Al Atomic Ratio Jeong Gil Seo Æ Min Hye Youn Æ Insung Nam Æ Sunhwan Hwang Æ Jin Suk Chung Æ In Kyu Song

Received: 3 May 2009 / Accepted: 6 May 2009 / Published online: 21 May 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

Abstract Mesoporous Ni-Al2O3 (XNiAl) catalysts with different Ni/Al atomic ratio (X) were prepared by a coprecipitation method for use in hydrogen production by steam reforming of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The effect of Ni/Al atomic ratio of mesoporous XNiAl catalysts on their physicochemical properties and catalytic activity for steam reforming of LNG was investigated. Physical properties of XNiAl catalysts did not show a consistent trend with respect to Ni/Al atomic ratio, while chemical properties of XNiAl catalysts strongly influenced by Ni/Al atomic ratio. Nickel species were highly dispersed on the surface of XNiAl catalysts through the formation of nickel aluminate phase or solid solution of nickel oxide and nickel aluminate phase. In the steam reforming of LNG, both LNG conversion and hydrogen composition in dry gas showed volcano-shaped curves with respect to Ni/Al atomic ratio. Nickel surface area of XNiAl catalysts was well correlated with LNG conversion and hydrogen composition over the catalysts. Among the catalysts tested, 0.8NiAl (Ni/Al = 0.8) catalyst with the highest nickel surface area showed the best catalytic performance. Keywords Ni-Al2O3  Co-precipitation  Liquefied natural gas  Steam reforming  Hydrogen

J. G. Seo  M. H. Youn  I. Nam  S. Hwang  I. K. Song (&) School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, Shinlim-dong, Kwanak-ku, Seoul, 151-744, South Korea e-mail: [email protected] J. S. Chung School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 680-749, South Korea

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1 Introduction Hydrogen has attracted much attention as a promising energy source due to its clean, renewable, and non-polluting nature [1]. Steam reforming [2–4], partial oxidation [5, 6], auto-thermal reforming [7, 8], and CO2 reforming [9, 10] have been widely investigated for hydrogen production from hydrocarbons and alcohols. Among these reforming reactions, steam reforming has been recognized as the most feasible process for the production of hydrogen from methane. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is abundant and mainly composed of methane, can serve as an alternate source for hydrogen production by steam reforming reaction. LNG infrastructure in modern cities may become more widespread in the future, which will make LNG well suited as a hydrogen source for residential and on-board reformers in fuel cell applications. It is known that conventional nickel-based catalysts suffer from significant carbon deposition and nickel sintering during the steam reforming reactions [11, 12]. Therefore, nickel-based catalysts require a high reaction temperature and an