This study presents a composite catalytic system integrating a nickel-based catalyst (Ni/MgAlOx) with porous foam supports. The investigation systematically examines three representative foam materials—nickel (Ni)
nickel-chromium alloy (NiCr)
and silicon carbide (SiC)—focusing on their distinct influences on solar-driven dry reforming of methance(DRM) performance. Experimental results demonstrate that the Ni/MgAlO/SiC foam reactor exhibits optimal catalytic performance
achieving average CH and CO conversion rates of 75.56% and 81.79%
respectively
with a solar-to-fuel efficiency of 38.86%
representing improvements of 5.26 and 3.14 percentage points over NiCr and Ni foam reactors
respectively. The enhanced performance primarily stems from SiC foam’s superior thermal conductivity
which reduces the axial temperature gradient from 167 ℃ (observed for Ni foam) to 59 ℃
thereby broadening the catalytic reaction domain. Furthermore
the SiC foam support exhibits superior mechanical strength that effectively resists internal stress caused by carbon deposition
thereby maintaining structural integrity and enhancing system operational stability. Consequently
the SiC foam reactor demonstrates no significant performance degradation during a 65-hour continuous test
whereas NiCr and Ni foam reactors experience severe performance deterioration at 42 hours and 24 hours
respectively. This study elucidates the synergistic mechanism of thermal conductivity and mechanical strength of foam supports on DRM performance
providing an experimental basis for material selection and thermo-mechano-chemical synergistic design of solar-driven DRM reactors.
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references
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