Carbon dioxide reforming of methane on modified Ni/alpha-Al2O3 catalysts

We have studied the CO2-reforming of methane at atmospheric pressure in the range temperature 550-730 degrees C on Ni/alpha-Al2O3 catalysts modified by Fe, Co, Cu and Ce, respectively. The obtained results show that the activities depend on the CO2/CH4 ratio, the nature of the metal additives and the reaction temperature. The order of activity is Ni, Ni-Co, Ni-Ce > Ni-Cu much greater than Ni-Fe. The effect of the additives is attributed to their interaction with the nickel supported active phase. When CH4 is replaced by H-2 in the presented reaction, no effect of the metal additives on the activities is observed and the CO2 conversions are sensibly lower. These results let us think that the contribution of the reverse gas shift reaction is less important than expected in the overall process of the methane CO2-reforming.