4. Conclusions
The effect of various supports on physicochemical properties of Ni-based nanocatalysts was studied, leading to an effective support. XRD patterns showed that due to cerium properties, Ni/CeO2 nanocatalyst has the best dispersion of NiO species. But among the nanocatalysts, Ni/Al2O3 nanocatalyst has the best performance due to its high specific surface area, homogenous distributions and good dispersion of Ni. Catalytic performance tests demonstrated that, Ni/Al2O3 nanocatalyst has high H2 yield. As mentioned one of the main aim of this study is to replace Al2O3 with clinoptilolite to reduce process cost and industrialization of the process. Ni/Clinoptilolite nanocatalyst has relatively good activity however; its H2
and CO yields as well as H2/CO molar ratio are lower than that of Ni/ Al2O3 nanocatalyst.