Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Methane and carbon dioxide are the major components of biogas produced by anaerobic digestion of biomass and conversion of biogas to syngas is of great interesting for making use of the sustainable biomass resource. The present paper deals with catalyst development and testing for the dry reforming of methane (DRM). Three different lanthanum modified Ni catalysts were prepared using sequential impregnation, with nickel loadings from 9 to 16 wt. %, and lanthanum loadings from 5 to 23 wt. % based on support SBA- 15. The catalysts were characterized by SEM/EDS, XRD, TPR and BET measurement. The mesoporous structure of the SBA-15 support was maintained and good dispersion of nickel and lanthanum nano-particles on the support were obtained for all prepared catalysts. The temperature programmed reduction (TPR) kinetics for these catalysts were analysed and the activation energies of the reaction was determined by using Kissinger method of analysis. The sample B was tested against the DRM, at different temperatures and catalyst weights, in order to assess their activity and selectivity. High methane conversion was achieved (100 %) at optimal condition. The mechanism of the reaction was assumed based on literature studies and rate equation was fitted to our experimental data. It was concluded that reforming temperature had an effect on the reaction mechanism.