Study of Short-Term Catalyst Deactivation Due to Carbon Deposition during Biogas Dry Reforming on Supported Ni Catalyst

Dry reforming experiments are performed for five different CH 4 /CO 2 ratios at three different operating temperatures. The focus of the work is on the short-term catalyst deactivation due to carbon deposition and analysis of the nature and structure of deposited carbon at CH 4 /CO 2 ratio of 2, which is typical for biogas. The dry reforming experiments indicate that the short-term deactivation is insignificant at an equimolar ratio of CH 4 and CO 2 . The rate of carbon deposition becomes faster at higher CH 4 /CO 2 ratios and higher temperatures. CH 4 and CO 2 conversions and the exit mole fraction of CO and H 2 confirm the occurrence of the reverse water–gas shift reaction. Characterization of the spent catalyst and deposited carbon is performed using XRD, TGA, FTIR, and Raman spectroscopies, which indicates the presence of graphitic carbon and carbon nanostructures.