Steam reforming of toluene as model of tar compound over Mo catalysts derived from hydrotalcites

Abstract EN

This study evaluated the catalytic activity of Mo catalysts derived from hydrotalcite-like compounds for steam reforming of toluene as a model compound for tar.

The catalysts with 1.5, 3 and 4.5 Mo loadings (wt%), denoted as Mo₁.5MgAl, Mo3MgAl and Mo4.5MgAl respectively, were prepared by coprecipitation and characterized by BET, XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and UV-VIS.

The results showed that toluene conversion increased with increasing molybdenum content.

The hydrogen amount depended on two factors : the presence of molybdate species on the surface and the presence of aluminum cations in tetrahedral sites (Mo3MgAl), with molybdenum influence being more pronounced.

The H₂/CO ratio decreased at increasing temperature while, the H₂/CO₂ ratio increased proportionally with temperature.

Mo, 5MgAl catalyst was more selective for CO₂ and H₂, while, Mo3MgAl and Mo4.5MgAl were more selective for CO and H₂.