Steam reforming of toluene as a tar model compound with modified nickel-based catalyst

Abstract

Catalytic steam reforming is a promising route for tar conversion to high energy syngas in the process of biomass gasification. However, the catalyst deactivation caused by the deposition of residual carbon is still a major challenge. In this paper, a modified Ni-based Ni-Co/Al₂O₃-CaO (Ni-Co/AC) catalyst and a conventional Ni/Al₂O₃ (Ni/A) catalyst were prepared and tested for tar catalytic removal in which toluene was selected as the model component. Experiments were conducted to reveal the influences of the reaction temperature and the ratio between steam to carbon on the toluene conversion and the hydrogen yield. The physicochemical properties of the modified Ni-based catalyst were determined by a series of characterization methods. The results indicated that the Ni-Co alloy was determined over the Ni-Co/AC catalyst. The doping of CaO and the presence of Ni-Co alloy promoted the performance of toluene catalytic dissociation over Ni-Co/AC catalyst compared with that over Ni/A catalyst. After testing in steam for 40 h, the carbon conversion over Ni-Co/AC maintained above 86% and its resistance to carbon deposition was superior to Ni/A catalyst.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

catalytic steam reforming / tar model compound / Ni-based catalyst / carbon resistance

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51922040 and 51821004), the Fok Ying Tung Education Foundation (Grant No. 161051), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 2018ZD08 and 2020DF01).

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