Preparation and Performance of Needled Felt/ Sintered Felt/ Nickel Foam Loaded Monolithic Catalysts for Hydrogen Production from Methanol Steam Reforming

Abstract 316 L needled felt, stainless steel sintered felt, and nickel foam with high porosity, super specific surface area, and 3D continuous irregular pores were used as carriers, respectively. Copper‐based catalysts were loaded onto the carriers by impregnation to prepare various monolithic catalysts by modulating the catalyst components. The impacts of carriers and composition ratios on the activity of the catalysts were tested in a fixed‐bed reactor to evaluate the performance of methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production. The results showed that high‐temperature pretreatment could enhance the surface roughness of the carrier, which was beneficial to the impregnation of the catalyst. Meanwhile, the number of impregnations was negatively correlated with the catalytic activity, with the single‐impregnation showing the best catalytic effect despite a low loading rate. In addition, by adjusting the ratio of catalyst components, the 7# monolithic catalyst achieved a 100% methanol conversion rate, a 251.8 mL (min·g) −1 hydrogen yield, and a lower CO content. After 126 h of start‐stop experiments, the methanol conversion rate remained stable at 100%, demonstrating good stability and the best performance. Therefore, this study provides a reliable solution for the preparation of monolithic catalysts.