Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Iso-octane over Rh/α-Al2O3 in an Adiabatic Reactor: An Experimental and Modeling Study

Abstract

Catalytic partial oxidation (CPO) of hydrocarbons represents an interesting technology for hydrogen production on mobile systems. We investigated the CPO of 2,2,4-trimethyl pentane (iso-octane), chosen as surrogate for gasoline. CPO experiments were carried out in a laboratory scale autothermal reformer with honeycomb monolith catalysts (2% Rh/α-Al2O3), equipped with probes for spatially resolved measurements of temperature and concentration. The iso-octane CPO process follows a reaction pathway which mainly consists of the exothermic combustion reaction and the endothermic steam reforming. The chemical reaction is very fast, and sharp gradients of temperature and concentration establish at the catalyst inlet. Similarly to the CPO of light hydrocarbons, the consecutive reaction mechanism results in the formation of a hot spot of temperature at the catalyst inlet. However, compared to light hydrocarbons, this phenomenology is specifically emphasized in the case of iso-octane, because of the higher overall ...