Effect of Ni Loading and Reaction Conditions on Partial Oxidation of Methane to Syngas

The partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas is studied in this paper over Ni/Al2O3 catalysts under atmospheric pressure. The effects of Ni loading on the activity and stability of catalysts with 5 mm α-Al2O3 and θ-Al2O3 pellets as supports were measured in a continuous fixed bed reactor. It is found that the optimum Ni loading is 10%. And the effect of reaction conditions on partial oxidation of methane is also studied. The methane conversion and CO selectivity increase with the increase of the reaction temperature and the space velocity on 10%Ni/α-Al2O3 catalysts. The best CH4/O2 mole ratio is 2 for CO selectivity, and the optimum space velocity is 5.4×105 h-1.