Effective heat supply from combustion to reforming in methane reforming with CO₂ and O₂: Comparison between Ni and Pt catalysts

The temperature profile of the fixed catalyst bed in methane reforming with CO₂ and O₂ was investigated over Pt/Al₂O₃ and Ni/Al₂O₃. The activities on Pt/Al₂O₃ and Ni/Al₂O₃ were in the same level in methane reforming with CO₂. On the other hand, the activity of methane combustion over the catalysts was significantly different (Pt/Al₂O₃ ≫ Ni/Al₂O₃). In methane reforming with CO₂ and O₂, methane conversion over Pt/Al₂O₃ was considerably higher than over Ni/Al₂O₃. From the profiles of bed temperature measurements under various reaction conditions, one sees that the distance between combustion and reforming zones becomes very short. This is related to the high reducibility of Pt metal itself, and Pt maintains metallic state in the combustion zone and under the presence of oxygen. In this case, the combustion heat can be supplied to the reforming reaction very effectively. The result can be connected to the synthesis gas production with high energy efficiency.