Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) over Magnesium-Doped Nickel-Alumina Aerogel Catalyst

A magnesium-doped nickel-alumina aerogel catalyst (Mg/NAA) was prepared by a single-step epoxide-driven sol-gel method followed by a supercritical CO2 drying. For comparison, a magnesium-doped nickel-alumina xerogel catalyst (Mg/NAX) was prepared by a single-step epoxide-driven sol-gel method without a supercritical CO2 drying. Mg/NAA and Mg/NAX catalysts were applied to the hydrogen production by steam reforming of liquefied natural gas (LNG). In order to investigate the effect of preparation method on catalytic performance, the catalysts were characterized by nitrogen adsorption-desorption, ICP-AES, XRD, TPR, TEM, and hydrogen chemisorption analyses. It was observed that Mg/NAA catalyst showed better textural properties than Mg/NAX catalyst due to suppressed collapse of nickel-alumina gel network during the supercritical CO2 drying step. It was also revealed that Mg/NAA catalyst retained larger nickel surface area, smaller average nickel diameter, and higher nickel dispersion than Mg/NAX catalyst. In the hydrogen production by steam reforming of LNG, Mg/NAA catalyst with the higher nickel dispersion showed the better catalytic performance than Mg/NAX catalyst in terms of hydrogen yield and LNG conversion.