In this work the effects of the contents of nickel (5, 7.5, 10 wt%) and copper (0, 1, 2 wt%) and reac- tion temperature (650, 700, 750 °C) on the catalytic performance of Ni–Cu/Al 2 O 3 catalyst in methane dry reforming were evaluated using Box–Behnken design in order to optimize methane conversion, H 2 /CO ratio and the catalyst deactivation. Different catalysts were prepared by co-impregnation method and characterized by XRD, BET, H 2 -TPR, FESEM and TG/DTA analyses. The results revealed that copper addi- tion improved the catalyst reducibility. Promoted catalyst with low amounts of Cu gave higher activity and stability with high resistance to coke deposition and agglomeration of active phase especially during the reaction. However catalysts with high amounts of Cu were less active and rather deactivated due to the active sites sintering as well as Ni covering by Cu-enriched phase. The optimal conditions were de- termined by desirability function approach as 10 wt% of Ni, 0.83 wt% of Cu at 750 °C. CH 4 conversion of 95.1%, H 2 /CO ratio of 1 and deactivation of 1.4% were obtained experimentally under optimum conditions, which were in close agreement with the values predicted by the developed model.
