Hydrogen‐rich syngas production from bi‐reforming of greenhouse gases over zirconia modified Ni/MgO catalyst

Summary Bi‐reforming of methane (BRM) is gaining an increase interest due to the critical requirements to mitigate global warming and provide alternative energy resources. However, there has been a serious challenge to the scale‐up of the process to commercial production due to the catalyst deactivation. In the present study, the influence of ZrO2 modifications on the activity and stability of MgO‐supported Ni catalyst in the BRM reaction was investigated. The ZrO2‐MgO mixed oxide support was prepared by co‐precipitation method with variation in the ZrO2 composition and subsequently impregnated with Ni. The characterization of the freshly prepared Ni/MgO and Ni/MgO‐ZrO2 catalysts using N2 physisorption analysis, X‐Ray Diffraction (XRD), FESEM, XPS, H2‐TPR, and CO2‐TPD techniques revealed suitable physicochemical properties for the BRM reaction. The Ni/MgO‐ZrO2 catalysts showed an improved performance in the BRM reaction in terms of activity and stability compared to the Ni/MgO at 800°C and CH4, H2O, CO2 ratio of 3:2:1, respectively. The best performance was obtained using the Ni/15%ZrO2‐MgO for the BRM with CO2 and CH4 conversion of 81.5% and 82.5%, respectively. The characterization of the spent Ni/MgO catalyst using Raman spectroscopy, FESEM, and High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) analysis revealed the formation of amorphous carbon that could be responsible for its fast deactivation. In the present study, the influence of ZrO2 modifications on the activity and stability of MgO‐supported Ni catalyst in the BRM reaction was investigated. Although utilization of MgO and ZrO2 as support for individual catalysts has attracted huge attention, there is a need to investigate the application of mixed oxide ZrO2‐MgO supported Ni catalysts for BRM. Till date, no research has been undertaken in BRM reaction for the suggested metal system that is, Ni/MgO‐ZrO2.