Oxy-CO2 reforming of methane to syngas over CoOx/CeO2/SA-5205 catalyst

The oxy-CO2 methane reforming (OCRM) process has been investigated over the CoOx/CeO2/SA-5205 catalyst at varying reaction temperatures (750-900 degrees C), O-2/CH4 ratios (0.3- 0.45), and space velocities (20 000 - 100 000 cm(3)/g/h). With an increasing OCRM reaction temperature, the contribution from the CO2 methane reforming reaction increased while that from methane combustion reactions decreased. Correspondingly, there was an increase in the H-2/CO ratio and a sharp decrease in reaction exothermicity. At 900 C (gas hourly space velocity = 46 000 cm(3)/g/h and O-2/CH4 = 0.4), the OCRM reaction over the CoOx/CeO2/SA-5205 catalyst was mildly endothermic with > 90% CH4 conversion, > 95% H-2 selectivity, and a H-2/CO ratio of 1.63. CH4 conversion was relatively unaffected by the O-2/CH4 ratio used in the OCRM reaction; however, CO2 conversion decreased on increasing the O-2/CH4 ratio. While H-2 selectivity was not significantly affected by the O-2/CH4 ratio, the H-2/CO ratio increased linearly with an increasing O-2/CH4 ratio. The endothermicity of the reaction was found to decrease with an increasing CH4/O-2 ratio, which can be explained on the basis of increased contribution from the methane partial oxidation reaction with an increasing O-2/CH4 ratio.