Ni–Cr–Al metal-foam-supported catalysts for steam methane reforming (SMR) are manufactured by applying a catalytic Ni/Al2O3 sol–gel coating to powder alloyed metallic foam. The structure, microstructure, mechanical stability, and hydrogen yield efficiency of the obtained catalysts are evaluated. The structural and microstructural characteristics show that the catalyst is well coated on the open-pore Ni–Cr–Al foam without cracks or spallation. The measured compressive yield strengths are 2–3 MPa at room temperature and 1.5–2.2 MPa at 750oC regardless of sample size. The specimens exhibit a weight loss of up to 9–10% at elevated temperature owing to the spallation of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. However, the metal-foam-supported catalyst appears to have higher mechanical stability than ceramic pellet catalysts. In SMR simulations tests, a methane conversion ratio of up to 96% is obtained with a high hydrogen yield efficiency of 82%.

This paper describes the surface modification effect of a Ti substrate for improved dispersibility of the cat-alytic metal. Etching of a pure titanium substrate was conducted in 50% H₂SO₄, 50˚C for 1h-12h to observe the sur-face roughness as a function of the etching time. At 1h, the grain boundaries were obvious and the crystal grains weredistinguishable. The grain surface showed micro-porosities owing to the formation of micro-pits less than 1 µm in diam-eter. The depths of the grain boundary and micro-pits appear to increase with etching time. After synthesizing the cat-alytic metal and growing the carbon nano tube (CNT) on Ti substrate with varying surface roughness, the distributiontrends of the catalytic metal and grown CNT on Ti substrate are discussed from a micro-structural perspective.

The autothermal reforming reaction of methane was investigated to produce hyd rogen with Ni/CeO2-ZrO2, Ni/Al2O3-MgO and Ni-Ru/Al2O3-MgO catalysts. Honeycomb metalli c monolith was applied in order to obtain high catalytic activity and stability in autothermal r eforming. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET and SEM. The influence of various catalysts on hydrogen production was studied for the feed ratio(O2/CH4, H2O/CH4). The O2/CH4 and H2O/CH4 ratio governed the methane conversion and temperature profile of reactor. Th e reactor temperature increased as the reaction shifted from endothermic to exothermic reactio n with increasing O2/CH4 ratio. Among the catalysts used in the experiment, the Ni-Ru/Al2O3-MgO catalyst showed the highest activity. The 60% of CH4 conversion was obtained, and th e reactor temperature was maintained 600℃ at the condition of GHSV=10000h-1 and feed ratio S/C/O=0.5/1/0.5.

The chemical kinetics of steam reforming of polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP) pyrolysis oil were studied using a ruthenium-based catalyst. The experiments were performed in a tubular flow reactor at temperatures of 530-680°C, Weight Hourly Space Velocities (WHSVs) of 0.453-7.916 h−1, and different steam and pyrolysis oil gas-phase concentrations. The activation energy of steam reforming of polypropylene oil and polystyrene oil is 136 and 142 kJ/mol, respectively. The reaction orders of polypropylene and polystyrene oils were 0.42 and 0.37, respectively. Conversions of polypropylene and polystyrene oils were 2.0-50.3 and 1.9-45.3%, respectively. Indeed, a Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) mechanism requiring the dissociative adsorption of pyrolysis oil and steam at two different sites on plastics appeared to be the most plausible pathway for the steam reforming reaction.

The chemical kinetics of the steam reforming of the pyrolysis oil of polypropylene (PP) over a ruthenium-based catalyst has been examined as a function of pyrolysis oil and steam partial pressures at various temperatures. The activation energy of steam reforming over Ru/Al2O3 catalyst is 136 kJ/mol, and the reaction orders of pyrolysis oil and steam are 0.42 and 0.24, respectively. Fitting the experimental data to the Langmuir?Hinshelwood expression shows that the steamreforming reaction probably proceeds via the dissociative adsorption of pyrolysis oil and steam on two different sites.