Effects of MoO3 loading and calcination temperature on the activity of the sulphur-resistant methanation catalyst MoO3/γ-Al2O3

The effects of calcination temperature and MoO3 loading on the syngas methanation performance of MoO3/gamma-Al2O3 catalyst prepared by the incipient-wetness impregnation method were studied. Mo-Al/25 catalyst (similar to 4.04 Mo/nm(2)) calcined at 600 degrees C reached maximum activity with 46.45% CO conversion. All of the experimental results demonstrated that the saturated monolayer coverage of MoO3 over a gamma-Al2O3 support was closet to 25 wt.% MoO3. It was discovered that tetrahedrally coordinated Mo6+ (T), instead of octahedrally coordinated Mo6+ (O), is the active catalytic precursor in its oxidised state. Additionally, it was also confirmed that the presence of crystalline MoO3 and Al-2(MoO4)(3) species depended on not only the MoO3 loading but also the calcination temperature. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.