Characterization and methanation activity of supported nickel catalysts

The methanation of carbon monoxide was studied over various supported nickel catalysts in a fixed bed reactor in the temperature range of 250 to 400°C. The hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio was kept higher than stoichiometric in order to avoid carbon formation. The catalyst particles had an average diameter of 80 pm and nickel contents ranging from 5 to 42 wt %. The performance of laboratory prepared catalysts was compared with commercial ones. The catalysts were characterized by BET surface area, pore volume and carbon monoxide chemisorption. Specific activities for the methanation reaction were obtained and were found to vary with nickel concentration and with crystallite size. There exists a crystallite size range in which the maximum activity was observed. Metal support interactions may also contribute to the vdation in specific activity. The activation energy was found to vary from 58.2 MJ/kmol to 119.4 MJ/kmol. It appears that the methanation reaction over Ni/aIumina catalysts is a structure sensitive reaction. A compensation effect was observed for this reaction.