Methanation of carbon dioxide over mesoporous Ni-Fe-Al2O3 catalysts prepared by a coprecipitation method: Effect of precipitation agent

Mesoporous nickel (30 wt%)-iron (5 wt%)-alumina (denoted as NiFeAl-X) catalysts were prepared by a coprecipitation method with a variation of precipitation agent (X = (NH4)(2)CO3, Na2CO3, NH4OH, and NaOH), and they were applied to the methane production from CO2 and Hy. Metal particle size of reduced NiFeAl-X catalysts decreased in the order of NiFeAl-NaOH > NiFeAl-NH4OH > NiFeAlNa2CO3 > NiFeA1-(NH4)(2)CO3. In the methanation of CO2, yield for CH4 increased in the order of NiFeAl-NaOH < NiFeAl-NH4OH < NiFeAl-Na2CO3 < NiFeAI-(NH4)(2)CO3. This indicates that the catalytic performance in the methanation of CO2 was strongly influenced by the identity of precipitation agent. (C) 2013 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.