Steam Reforming of Coke Oven Gas for Hydrogen Production over a NiO/MgO Solid Solution Catalyst

The steam reforming of coke oven gas (COG) for hydrogen production was investigated over the NiO/MgO solid solution catalysts reduced at high temperatures. It was found that the NiO/MgO catalyst possessed good catalytic activity, and the conversions of CH₄ and CO₂ were greatly affected by the reaction temperature and steam/carbon (S/C) mole ratio. During the tested period of 100 h under a low S/C ratio of 1.0 at 875 °C, the conversions of CH₄ and CO₂ kept constant values around 97.6 and 44.3%, respectively, and the hydrogen volume content was enhanced from 58.2% in the original COG to 77.7% by 1.5 times. The catalyst characterization results of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermogravimetry (TG) after the reaction showed that the Ni nanoparticle sizes had a slight increase and the amount of the coke deposition was ca. 1%. These results showed that the NiO/MgO catalyst was efficient and stable for the steam reforming of COG to amplify hydrogen in COG. This research will be of importance in hydrogen production from COG.