Autothermal Reforming of Propane Over Ni Catalysts Supported on a Variety of Perovskites

Autothermal reforming of propane for hydrogen over Ni catalysts supported on a variety of perovskites was performed in an atmospheric flow reactor. Perovskite is known for its higher thermal stability and oxygen storage capacity, but catalytic activity of itself is low. A sites of the ABO3 structured perovskites were occupied by La while B sites by one of Fe, Co, Ni, and Al by citrate method. The composition of the reactant mixture was H2O/C/O2 = 8.96/1.0/1.1. The changes in the states of the catalysts after reaction were analyzed by XRD, TPD, and TGA. Ni/LaAlO3 catalyst maintained the perovskite structure after reaction. It showed higher hydrogen yield and thermal stability compared to those of the catalysts with Fe, Co, or Ni in B sites. Catalysts prepared by deposition-precipitation (DP) method showed higher activity than those prepared by impregnation method, presumably due to the smaller sizes of the NiO crystal particles.