Impact of adding C2H6 on the CO2 reforming of CH4 over Al-Incorporated Co/MgAl2O4 catalyst

This study investigates the impact of incorporating aluminum (Al) as a promoter into a Co/MgAl₂O₄ (MA) catalyst for the CO₂ reforming of CH₄ with C₂H₆. The Co/MA catalyst exhibited the highest initial conversion of CH₄ and CO₂; however, both values gradually declined over the time. In contrast, all Al-promoted catalysts maintained stable conversions, and the CoAl(0.50)/MA catalyst demonstrated notable catalytic stability after 50 h of reaction. The weight of the Al-promoted catalyst either remained constant or increased slightly compared with the Al-unpromoted catalyst during CH₄-TGA, indicating superior resistance to coking. Although the exact location of the Al species could not be determined experimentally, it can be inferred that the appropriate addition of Al to the Co/MA catalyst may partially form a CoAl₂O₄ phase, which facilitates CO₂ activation and suppresses carbon deposition. This suggests that the Al promoter kinetically controls the rate of carbon deposition and oxidation on the Co/MA catalyst.