Methane oxy-steam reforming reaction: Performances of Ru/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts loaded on structured cordierite monoliths

The in situ deposition of 1.5 wt.% Ru/gamma-Al2O3 catalytic layers on cordierite monoliths (400 cpsi, diameter 1 cm, length 1.5 cm), combining Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) with Wet Impregnation (WI), was addressed. First of all, the physicochemical properties of the catalyst at powder level were investigated by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), N-2 adsorption (BET), and H-2 chemisorption, while the morphology of final structured catalysts was evaluated by SEM analysis and mechanical strength tests by sonication. The catalytic activity towards methane Oxy-Steam Reforming (OSR) reaction was studied after the choice of the most suitable catalyst load, carrying out tests varying the temperature (500-800 degrees C), the oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O/C = 0.45-0.75, oxygen as moles), the steam-to-carbon ratio (S/C = 1.0-2.4), and the weight space velocity (WSV = 34,000-400,000 N ml g(cat)(-1) h(-1)), in order to identify the optimum operative conditions. The results showed that a total catalytic layer load (active metal plus oxide carrier) equal to 6.5 mg cm(-2) was enough to achieve excellent performances, while no substantial improvements were obtained at higher catalytic layer loads. Moreover, the coated Ru/gamma-Al2O3 monolith exhibited a good catalytic activity towards the studied reaction also at considerably high WSV values (till 400,000 N ml g(cat)(-1) h(-1)). Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.