Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 research institute of petroleum industry

2 Department of Chemical Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University,

3 sharif university of technolongy

Abstract

TCD of CH4 is suggested as a green and economical method for H2 production. In the present research, 30wt%Ni/MgO catalysts with different amounts of the cooper were prepared by a one-step hydrothermal technique to investigate the performance of the promoted catalysts on methane decomposition for producing hydrogen. The 30wt%Ni-nwt%Cu/MgO (n = 5, 15, 25) catalysts exhibited a mesoporous structure with high porosity. XRD analysis showed the formation of CuO and NixCu(1-x)O species after the calcination of catalysts. Adding Cu to Ni/MgO catalysts improved the performance of catalytic because of increased methane adsorption, better distribution of Ni particles in the catalyst structure, and decreased degree of reducibility. The results confirmed that the Ni-Cu/MgO catalysts indicated the best performance at 625 °C. The 5, 15, and 25% Cu-promoted catalysts results showed the CH4 conversions are 47.8, 58.7, and 42.3%, and H2 yields are 48, 57.8, and 42%, respectively. Among the catalysts, 30wt%Ni-15wt%Cu/MgO catalyst exhibited the highest stability (above 52% hydrogen yield to 350 min) and efficiency.

Keywords