An investigation on the relationship between physicochemical characteristics of alumina-supported cobalt catalyst and its performance in dry reforming of methane

This study deals with the development of alumina-supported cobalt (Co/Al2O3) catalysts with remarkable performance in dry reforming of methane (DRM) and least carbon deposition. The influence of Co content, calcination, and reduction temperatures on the physicochemical attributes and catalyst activity of the developed catalysts was extensively studied. For this purpose, several characterization techniques including ICP-MS, H2 pulse chemisorption, HRTEM, H2-TPR, N2 adsorption desorption, and TGA were implemented, and the properties of the developed catalysts were carefully analyzed. The impact of reaction temperature, feed gas ratio, and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) on the reactants conversion and products yield was investigated. Use of 10%Co/Al2O3 catalyst, calcined at 500°C and reduced under H2 at 900°C in DRM reaction at 850°C, CH4/CO2 ratio of 1:1, and GHSV of 6 L.g-1.h-1 resulted in a remarkable catalytic activity and sustainable performance in long-term operation where great CO2 (96%) and CH4 (98%) conversions and high H2 (83%) and CO (91%) yields with a negligible carbon deposition (3 wt%) were attained in 100-h on-stream reaction. The good performance of the developed catalyst in DRM reaction was attributed to the small Co particle size with well-dispersion on the alumina support which increased the catalytic activity and also the strong metal-support interaction which inhibited any serious metal sintering and enhanced the catalyst stability.