Nickel based catalysts with different nickel contents were prepared by the impregnation method with MCM-41

Al2O3 and SiO2 as supports

and catalytic performance was studied in a fixed-bed reactor for the production of synthetic natural gas (SNG). Compared with the Ni/Al2O3 and Ni/SiO2 catalysts

Ni/MCM-41 catalysts with the same nickel content of 10%(mass) showed better catalytic performance with high CO conversion of 100% and CH4 yield of 94.9% at 350℃ under 1.5 MPa with 3:1 molar ratio of H2 to CO and a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 12000 ml·h-1·g-1. The effect of Ni loading on catalytic performance of Ni/MCM-41 catalysts was also investigated. Catalytic activity increased with increasing Ni loading and kept stable with Ni loading of above 10%(mass). 10%Ni/MCM-41 catalyst also exhibited excellent catalytic activity and stability in the catalytic stability test. The catalysts were characterized with X-ray diffraction (XRD)

N2 physisorption measurements

thermo gravimetric analysis (TG) and H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR). Ni particle size could obviously affect the catalytic performance of Ni/MCM-41 catalysts. Ni/MCM-41 catalyst with 10%(mass) nickel content and appropriate nickel particles of 15.5 nm exhibited good catalytic performance with almost 100% CO conversion and 94.9% CH4 yield.