Dry reforming of polypropylene over Ni and Ru-Ni catalysts supported on mesoporous alumina: Effect of calcination temperature

The catalytic dry reforming of plastic waste is performed in a two-stage fixed bed reactor set-up for synthesis gas production. The pyrolysis of plastics occurs in the first stage, while the dry reforming of the pyrolysates over a synthesized catalyst occurs in the second stage in the presence of carbon dioxide. The plastic used is polypropylene, which is simulating the most produced type of plastic. 25NiAl
2
O
3
and 1Ru25NiAl
2
O
3
are the studied catalysts, synthesized via wet impregnation. The effect of the catalyst’s calcination temperature on its performance is investigated. The results show that a lower calcination temperature revealed improved catalytic performance. The catalyst promoted with ruthenium did not show any deactivation during several consecutive runs. The calcination temperature and the metal promoter play a critical role in determining the stability and activity of the Ni-based catalysts during the dry reforming of polypropylene.