Steam Methane Reforming over Bi-Metal Loaded Hemp Derived Activated Carbon-Based Catalyst for Hydrogen Production /

Abstract

Where the energy domain is shifting towards more clean and sustainable energy in the wake of environmental deterioration, hydrogen has drawn the main attention as a clean fuel in energy insights. Whereas various natural gas reforming techniques are underway for optimum hydrogen production, the methane steam reforming technique also plays a pivotal role alongside. Catalyst plays a central role in defining the reforming processes. Coke deposition and catalyst deactivation is a technical term that research primarily focuses on to improve catalytic performance. In this study, the hemp leaves-derived activated carbon (AC) loaded Ni-Co catalyst is synthesized by the wet-impregnation method for steam methane reforming (SMR) for optimum hydrogen production. The monometallic and bimetallic metal catalysts are synthesized over activated carbon support with 5wt.% by the wet impregnation method. The fresh and spent catalyst undergoes a series of characterization methods such as X-ray diffractometer (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis (BET) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) for physiochemical studies and catalyst suitability for SMR. The catalytic assessment test of all synthesized material for SMR was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 750 °C WHSV 2000 mL CH4 g− and S/C of 2.0. The catalytic results showed that among all investigated samples monometallic cobalt catalyst (5%Co@AC) recorded best in terms of CH4 conversion (97.17%) and H2 production (66.08%) as XRD and SEM results suggest the catalysts with smaller metal crystallites promote a better dispersion of highly porous AC. The Ni/AC, Ni-Co/AC gives the CH4 conversion (90.28%) and (92.52%) respectively, whereas the H2 production of Ni/AC and NiCo/AC becomes 61.02% and 65.89% respectively.