A comparison of Ni/SiC and Ni/Al2O3 catalyzed total methanation for production of synthetic natural gas Original Research Article

Ni/SiC and Ni/Al2O3 catalysts were prepared by impregnation method for total methanation. The 120 h stability tests of the catalysts were conducted at 500 °C and 3 MPa with a syngas of H2/CO = 3. The catalysts before and after reaction were characterized by N2 adsorption–desorption, H2-TPR, XRD, TPO, TG-DSC, SEM, and TEM. The results show that the Ni/SiC catalyst is more stable than the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. Compared to the Ni/Al2O3 counterpart, the Ni/SiC catalyst is more resistant to sintering and carbon deposition and easier to regenerate in the methanation reaction due to the high thermal conductivity of SiC and the weak metal–support interaction.