Highly active and stable Rh/MgOAl2O3 catalysts for methane steam reforming

Abstract Highly active and coke-resistant Rh catalysts were developed for methane steam reforming in microchannel chemical reactors. Rh loading was optimized on a stable MgO Al 2 O 3 support to improve the volumetric productivity for methane conversion. Catalyst activities were stable over a wide range of steam/carbon ratios. In particular, experimental results demonstrated that Rh/MgO Al 2 O 3 catalysts are extremely active for methane steam reforming and are resistant to coke formation at stoichiometric steam/carbon ratio of 1 for over 14 h time-on-stream with no sign of deactivation. Methane steam reforming activities on this catalyst is compared in both a microchannel reactor and a conventional micro-tubular reactor. Significant performance enhancement was observed in microchannel reactors owing to improved heat and mass transfer.

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