Steam reforming of dimethyl ether over Cu-Ni/γ-Al2O3 bi-functional catalyst: Effect of calcination temperature

摘要

Introduction Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier and is expected to be one of the main energy sources in the 21st century. Dimethyl ether (DME) has recently been presented to be a promising reforming feedstock for hydrogen production, due to its high energy density, non-toxic, ease of transport and similar physical properties to LPG. It is known that supported Cu–Ni bimetallic catalysts are active for the production of hydrogen by methane decomposition and methanol or ethanol SR, respectively. Our previous investigation showed that Cu–Ni/γ-Al2O3 bi-functional catalyst prepared by deposition-precipitation method is active and stable for DME SR. In the present work, the effect of the calcination temperature on the activity and durability for DME SR was investigated.