Oxidative reforming of bio-ethanol over CuNiZnAl mixed oxide catalysts for hydrogen production

Abstract

Hydrogen (H₂) is expected to become an important fuel for the future to be used as an energy carrier in automobiles and electric power plants. A promising route for H₂ production involves catalytic reforming of a suitable primary fuel such as methanol or ethanol. Since ethanol is a renewable raw material and can be cheaply produced by the fermentation of biomass, the ethanol reforming for H₂ production is beneficial to the environment. In the present study, the steam reforming of ethanol in the presence of added O₂, which in the present study is referred to as oxidative steam reforming of ethanol (OSRE), was performed for the first time over a series of CuNiZnAl mixed oxide catalysts derived from layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors. The effects of Cu/Ni ratio, temperature, O₂/ethanol ratio, contact time, CO co-feed and substitution of Cu/Ni by Co were investigated systematically in order to understand the influence of these parameters on the catalytic performance. An ethanol conversion close to 100% was noticed at 300°C over all the catalysts. The Cu-rich catalysts favor the dehydrogenation of ethanol to acetaldehyde. The addition of Ni was found to favor the C-C bond rupture, producing CO, CO₂ and CH₄. Depending upon the reaction condition, a H₂ yield between 2.5 and 3.5 moles per mole of ethanol converted was obtained. A CoNi-based catalyst exhibited better catalytic performance with lower selectivity of undesirable byproducts, namely CH₃CHO, CH₄ and CO.