Auto thermal reforming (ATR) catalytic structures

1. A method for formulating an autothermal reforming (ATR) catalytic structure consisting essentially of:

obtaining a basic solution having a basic pH of between 10 and 12, the basic solution comprising an alkaline metal hydroxide, an alkaline metal carbonate, and water;

obtaining an acidic solution having an acidic pH of between 4 and 6;

mixing the basic solution with the acidic solution to create a sol-gel having layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors through co-precipitation of the cations with the basic solution, the LDH precursors having layered crystal structures, the layered crystal structures consisting essentially of 20% by weight nickel oxide, 5% by weight magnesium oxide, and 75% by weight aluminum oxide;

heating the sol-gel at a decomposition temperature of 500° C. for a time period of 8 hours such that the LDH precursors are at least partially decomposed to form a calcined material; and

conducting a metal reducing step on the calcined material for collapsing the layered crystal structures within the LDH precursors using a gas mixture having molar hydrogen in a range of from about 5% to about 20% and nitrogen at a temperature in a range of from about 450° C. to about 600° C. to form an ATR catalytic structure, where the ATR catalytic structure has nanosized mixed metal oxide particles dispersed throughout having diameters in a range of from about 40 nm to about 300 nm.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the nanosized mixed metal oxide particles have a surface area between 100 and 300 m 2 /g.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the nanosized mixed metal oxide particles are homogeneously distributed throughout the ATR catalytic structure.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the nanosized mixed metal oxide particles are operable to reform hydrocarbons for hydrogen production at temperatures less than about 800° C.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the basic solution further comprises a mixture of NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 , such that the basic solution has a pH of about 12.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the acidic solution has a total cationic concentration of 1.5 M.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cations have an aluminum concentration of between about 20 and 35 mol %.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the ATR catalytic structure is operable to produce a hydrogen product stream from a feed stream having liquid hydrocarbons through the use of an ATR reaction when incorporated into a porous tubular support.

9. The method of claim 1 , where the nanosized mixed metal oxide particles includes both α- and γ-alumina.

10. A method of formulating an autothermal reforming (ATR) catalyst consisting essentially of:

a. preparing a basic solution having a pH of between 10 and 12;

b. preparing an acidic solution having a pH of between 4 and 6;

c. mixing the acidic solution and the basic solution together to form a sol-gel;

d. aging the sol-gel to form a formed solid;

e. washing and filtering the formed solid with water until a generally neutral pH is reached;

f. drying the formed solid for a predetermined period of time to form a dry solid, the dry solid consisting essentially of 20% by weight nickel oxide, 5% by weight magnesium oxide, 75% by weight aluminum oxide;

g. calcining the dry solid at a temperature of 650° C. for a time period of 8 hours to form a calcined material; and

h. reducing the metal in the calcined material by contacting the calcined material with hydrogen at a temperature in a range of from about 450° C. to about 600° C. to form the ATR catalytic structure, the ATR catalytic structure having nanosized mixed oxide particles having diameters in a range of from about 40 nm to about 300 nm dispersed throughout.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the basic solution of step a is prepared by combining NaOH and Na 2 CO 3 such that the basic solution has a pH of about 12.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the ATR catalytic structure is incorporated into a porous tubular support and is operable to produce a hydrogen product stream from a liquid hydrocarbon feed stream through the use of an ATR reaction.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the hydrogen product stream is substantially free from carbon monoxide.

14. The method as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the hydrogen product stream comprises no more than 0.5% by volume carbon monoxide.