Effects of H2S, CO2, and O2 on Catalytic Methane Steam Reforming over Ni/CeO2 and Ni/Al2O3 Catalysts

Abstract

In the present work, the influences of H₂S and CO₂ on hydrogen production from methane steamreforming reaction over Ni/CeO₂ and Ni/Al₂O₃ were studied. According to the experiment, both H₂S andCO₂ inhibited the methane steam reforming rate over both catalysts and consequently resulted in thedecreasing of hydrogen production yield. In the presence of H₂S (2-10 ppm), the rate dramaticallydecreased due to the sulphidation and cannot be fully recovery even though H₂S is removed from the feed.At the same operating conditions, Ni/CeO₂ provided higher resistance toward the deactivation than Ni/Al₂O₃. CO₂ also presented negative effect on the production of hydrogen from methane steam reformingover both catalysts due to the inhibition of methane and steam adsorption by CO₂. The adding of oxygenthrough the inlet feed along with methane and steam as the autothermal reforming was also carried out.Oxygen promoted methane steam reforming rate for both catalysts. However, H₂ production from methanesteam reforming decreased with increasing oxygen partial pressure.

Keywords : H₂S / Hydrogen / Methane Steam Reforming / Autothermal Reforming / Fuel Cell