Synthesis and characterization of cerium promoted Ni/SBA-16 oxygen carrier in cyclic chemical looping steam methane reforming

Chemical-looping steam methane reforming (CL-SMR) is based on oxidation-reduction cycles through a solid-gas reaction with an oxygen carrier (OC) for producing high purity hydrogen or synthesis gas. In this study, Ce promoted Ni-based OC was synthesized via co-impregnation method and applied in this process. The presence of CeO2 nanoparticles in the framework of nickel oxide doped SBA-16 oxygen carrier could significantly improve the uniformity and distribution of nickel oxide nanoparticles duo to the restrictional influence of the SBA-16 framework and the strong interaction of nickel and cerium. The reaction temperature (500-750 degrees C), Ce loading percentage (3.9-23.3 wt. %) and Ni loading percentage (10-30 wt. %) were studied in order to investigate and optimize the catalyst structure and process temperature with maximizing the average CH4 conversion and H-2 production yield in this process. The synthesized oxygen carriers were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques. The redox results revealed that 20Ni-11.6Ce/S16 oxygen carrier had the high catalytic activity of about 100% average CH4 conversion and 86.98% H2 production yield at reduction temperature of 700 degrees C. (C) 2017 Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.