Catalysts for hydrocarbon reforming

A method comprising:

• reforming a gas stream in a reactor, the gas stream including hydrocarbons, using a treated catalyst metal to convert at least a portion of the hydrocarbons to hydrogen in the gas stream;
• periodically treating, while reforming the gas stream, the catalyst metal in a reducing gas mixture environment within the reactor, wherein the reducing gas mixture comprises hydrogen and at least one sulfur-containing compound, wherein the at least one sulfur-containing compound includes one or more of a hydrogen sulfide, a carbonyl sulfide, a carbonyl disulfide or an organic sulfur-containing compound, wherein periodically treating the catalyst metal while reforming the gas stream includes treating the catalyst metal with a total sulfur dose per treatment by periodically adding the sulfur-containing compound to the reactor with the gas stream, wherein the total sulfur dose per treatment is determined by a sulfur level in the reducing gas mixture and exposure time of the catalyst metal to the reducing gas mixture during the treatment, wherein the total sulfur dose per treatment is such that there is a decrease in a rate of deactivation of the catalyst metal during the reforming of the gas stream compared to the rate of deactivation of the catalyst metal not treated with the total sulfur dose;
• and
• supplying the reformed gas stream to the fuel side of a solid oxide fuel cell stack to generate electricity via an electrochemical reaction using the reformed gas stream as a fuel source, wherein a concentration of sulfur in the reducing gas mixture during each treatment is between approximately 5 parts per billion volume (ppb-v) and approximately 200 ppb-v.