Gasification of carbon deposited on supported Ni-Cu catalysts

Abstract

The activity of supported Ni-Cu alloy catalysts in the gasification of carbon was studied for a range of copper concentrations. Deposits formed from the decomposition of methane under constant and well-defined conditions were gasified by hydrogen and hydrogen-steam mixtures. The kinetics of hydrogasification were determined under such conditions that the reaction rates did not depend on the extent of carbon burn-off. Comparison of the different catalysts indicates that, similarly to previous results for the decomposition, an ensemble of surface nickel atoms plays a role in the gasification.