Steam reforming of liquid petroleum gas over Mn-promoted Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts

Three different Mn-promoted Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts, Mn/Ni/γ-Al₂O₃, Mn-Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ and Ni/Mn/γ-Al₂O₃, were prepared and applied to the steam reforming of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) mainly composed of propane and butane. For comparison, Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts containing different amount of Ni were also examined. In the case of the Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts, 4.1 wt% Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ showed the stable catalytic activity with the least amount of coke formation. Among the various Mn-promoted Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts, Mn/Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ showed the stable catalytic activity with the least amount of coke formation. It also exhibited a similar H₂ formation rate compared with Ni/γ-Al₂O₃. Several characterization techniques-N₂ adsorption/desorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), CO chemisorptions, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and CHNS analysis-were employed to characterize the catalysts. The catalytic activity increased with increasing amount of chemisorbed CO for the Mn-promoted Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts. The highest proportion of Mn⁴⁺ species was observed for the most stable catalyst.