A Model for Carbon Deposition During Hydrogen Production by the Steam Reforming of Bio-oil

Abstract

H2 production by steam reforming of fast pyrolyzed bio-oil over Ni/MgO-La2O3-Al2O3 catalyst was carried out in a fixed-bed reactor by using model compounds (acetic acid, furfural, cyclopentanone, and m-cresol) and real bio-oil as the starting materials. The carbon deposition mechanism was discussed and a model of carbon deposition was built based on the amount of coke formed under different reaction temperatures, reaction times, steam to carbon molar ratios (S/C), and liquid hourly space velocities. The activation energies in the carbon deposition reaction and in the carbon elimination reaction were calculated as 28 and 71 kJ/mol, respectively, in terms of the carbon deposition model employed.