Effect of CO2/propane ratio and trimetallic oxide catalysts on maximizing dry reforming of propane

• Published in: Molecular catalysis 2023-02, Vol.537, p.112945, Article 112945
• Main Authors: Al-Shafei, Emad, Aljishi, Mohammad, Albahar, Mohammed, Alahmed, Ammar, Sanhoob, Mohammed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: CO/H2 ratio; CO2/propane ratio; Dry reforming thermodynamics; Propane dry reforming; Syngas
• ISSN: 2468-8231; 2468-8231
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mcat.2023.112945

•High CO2/propane ratio approach was effective strategy to increase the syngas (H2 and CO) product over trimetallic catalysts.•Each trimetallic oxide catalyst consumed CO2 differently to promote CC and CH bonds dissociation of propane to syngas.•Addition of Fe and Be oxide of trimetallic catalysts promote the highest propane dry reforming (PDR) and achieved conversion 97% and 84%, respectively.•The highest yield of H2 (34.5–41.2%) and CO (60–68.3%) was achieved using 2%Fe/5%Zr/Ti and 2%Be/5%Zr/Ti and CO/H2 ratio was closed to the theoretical for PDR. This study aimed at increasing the dry reforming reaction of propane with CO2 by using trimetallic oxide catalyst based on the reactive support of ZrO2/TiO2. Multiple basic (Mg, Be and Ba) and transition metal oxide (Cu, Fe) and Al were impregnated separately into 5%ZrO2/TiO2 catalyst support and characterized by XRD, BET, CO2-TPD and NH3-TPD. The catalysts showed an increase in the number of basic surface sites, with the trimetallic catalysts exhibiting more than 2.2–9.7 times the original number of basic sites of the Zr/Ti oxide support. In order to maximize greenhouse gas conversion, selected ratios of CO2/propane were correlated to increase syngas (CO and H2) product and promote more CO2 reactions via surface intermediates from CC bond dissociation of propane. Utilizing trimetallic catalysts enabled a three folds increase of CO yield compared to the reactive support used in the study. Although the selectivity towards H2 and CO increase with trimetallic catalysts, 2%Fe/5%ZrO2/TiO2 and 2%Be/5%ZrO2/TiO2 exhibited the highest propane dry reforming conversions (84–97%) with yields of H2 (35–51%) and CO (60–68%), respectively. The study demonstrated that each trimetallic oxide catalyst consumed CO2 differently, promoting distinct CC bond breaking patterns of propane over the catalyst surface. [Display omitted]