Hydrogen production from natural gas steam reforming over Ni catalysts supported on metal substrates

Natural gas steam reforming (NGSR) has been carried out over Ni catalysts supported on metal substrates (FeCrAlloy and steel use stainless (SUS)) to increase heat-transfer. Ni catalyst supported on FeCrAlloy exhibited stable activity, while Ni/SUS catalyst deactivated. To increase stability on Ni/SUS catalyst, an intermediate Al₂O₃ layer was coated on SUS by the electro-phoretic deposition method. As a consequence, the stability of Ni/SUS catalyst has been improved due to the intermediate Al₂O₃ layer, which strengthens the adhesion of Ni particles on SUS. Compared with the conventional pellet catalyst, Ni/SUS catalyst showed higher catalytic performance in NGSR at the same furnace temperature and GHSV. As a result, Ni/SUS catalyst can be a promising catalyst in NGSR because SUS is more economical than FeCrAlloy and its thermal conductivity is much higher than pellet catalyst, resulting in efficient heat-transfer in endothermic NGSR.