Effect of Potassium Promoter on the Performance of Nickel-Based Catalysts Supported on MnOx in Steam Reforming of Ethanol

Abstract

The effect of a potassium promoter on the stability of and resistance to a carbon deposit formation on the Ni/MnOx catalyst under SRE conditions was studied at 420 °C for different H2O/EtOH molar ratios in the range from 4/1 to 12/1. The catalysts were prepared by the impregnation method and characterized using several techniques to study their textural, structural, and redox properties before being tested in a SRE reaction. The catalytic tests indicated that the addition of a low amount of potassium (1.6 wt.%) allows a catalyst with high stability to be obtained, which was ascribed to high resistance to carbon formation. The restriction of the amount of carbon deposits originates from the potassium presence on the Ni surface, which leads to (i) a decrease in the number of active sites available for methane decomposition and (ii) an increase in the rate of the steam gasification of carbon formed during SRE reactions.