Syngas methanation was performed at 280-330 degrees C in a stirred-slurry reactor with Zr-doped Ni/gamma-Al2O3 catalysts. The catalysts were prepared using impregnation (IP) and impregnation-coprecipitation (ICP) methods. The catalyst 25Ni3Zr/gamma-Al2O3 (ICP) had relatively high activity in syngas methanation and the water gas shift (WGS) reaction. A high CO conversion, similar to 91.2%, was obtained at 325 degrees C under 1.5 MPa pressure, with a syngas flow of 10,000 mL g (1) h (1). However, the selectivity of CH4 over 25Ni3Zr/gamma-Al2O3 (ICP) was 85.2%, which was slightly lower than that of 25Ni3Zr/gamma-Al2O3 (IP), because of enhancement of the WGS reaction. The catalysts were characterized using temperature-programmed reduction, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy; the results indicated that Ni was well dispersed on the gamma-Al2O3 support by the ICP method. Zr doping improved Ni dispersion and H-2-promoted dissociation of CO. Furthermore, it was found that the larger amount of reducible Ni formed using the ICP method gave a better catalytic performance. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.