Methane Combustion over Pd/Al2O3 Catalyst: Effects of Chlorine Ions and Water on Catalytic Activity

The influences of residual chlorine ions and water on the performance of a Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst in methane combustion have been studied. The results show that the catalyst containing Cl⁻ exhibits a relatively low activity, and the addition of water to the reaction system accelerates the deactivation process. The catalyst has been characterized by N₂ adsorption, X-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and thermogravimetry (TG). The results show that the presence of Cl⁻ appears to strongly inhibit the total oxidation of methane and hinder the dispersion of Pd on Al₂O₃. The formation of Pd(OH)₂ during the reaction is the most likely reason for the inhibition effect of water, which is confirmed by FT-IR and TG analysis. The regeneration of the Pd/Al₂O₃ catalyst can be achieved by purging in nitrogen at 550 °C.