“Intelligent” reforming catalysts:Trace noble metal-doped Ni/Mg(Al)O derived from hydrotalcites

Trace amounts of noble metal-doped Ni/Mg（AI）O catalysts were pre- pared starting from Mg-Al hydrotalcites （HTs） and tested in daily start-up and shut-down （DSS） operation of steam reforming （SR） of methane or partial oxidation （PO） of propane. Although Ni/Mg（Al）O catalysts prepared from Mg（Ni）-Al HT exhibited high and stable activity in stationary SR, PO and dry reforming of methane and propane, the Ni/Mg（Al）O catalysts were drastically deactivated due to Ni oxidation by steam as purge gas when they were applied in DSS SR of methane. Such deactivation was effectively suppressed by doping trace amounts of noble metal on the catalysts by using a ＂memory effect＂ of HTs. Moreover, the noble metal-doped Ni/Mg（Al）O catalysts exhibited ＂intelligent＂ catalytic behaviors, i.e., self-activation and self-regenerative activity, leading to high and sustainable activity during DSS operation. Pt was the most effective among noble metals tested. The self-activation occurred by the reduction of Ni2＋ in Mg（Ni,Al）O periclase to Ni^0 assisted by hydrogen spillover from Pt （or Pt-Ni alloy）. The self-regenerative activity was accomplished by self-redispersion of active Ni^0 particles due to a reversible reductionoxidation movement of Ni between the outside and the inside of the Mg（Al）O periclase crystal; surface Ni^0 was oxidized to Ni2＋ by steam and incorporated into Mg（Ni2＋,Al）O periclase, whereas the Ni2＋ in the periclase was reduced to Ni^0 by the hydrogen spillover and appeared as the fine Ni^0 particles on the catalyst surface. Further a ＂green＂ preparation of the Pt/Ni/[Mg3.sAl]O catalysts was accomplished starting from commercial Mg3.5-AI HT by calcination, followed by sequential impregnation of Ni and Pt.

Methane conversion using a dielectric barrier discharge reactor at atmospheric pressure for hydrogen production

In the present paper, we carried out a theoretical study of dielectric barrier discharge（DBD）filled with pure methane gas. The homogeneous discharge model used in this work includes a plasma chemistry unit, an electrical circuit, and the Boltzmann equation. The model was applied to the case of a sinusoidal voltage at a period frequency of 50 kHz and under a gas pressure of 600 Torr. We investigated the temporal variation of electrical and kinetic discharge parameters such as plasma and dielectric voltages, the discharge current density, electric field, deposited power density, and the species concentration. We also checked the physical model validity by comparing its results with experimental work. According to the results discussed herein, the dielectric capacitance is the parameter that has the greatest effect on the methane conversion and H_2/CH_4 ratio. This work enriches the knowledge for the improvement of DBD for CH_4 conversion and hydrogen production.