Growing hydrogen production by merging the glycerol steam reforming and water gas shift reactions into a single reactor

Abstract

One promising idea to use excess glycerol generated during biodiesel fabrication is to produce hydrogen (H2) via the steam reforming of glycerol (GSR). This study combined GSR and water-gas shift (WGS) reactors to minimize energy usage and carbon monoxide (CO) emissions while augmenting H2 production. Choice of a Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst for the GSR reaction at 0.101 MPa and 923 K resulted in a product stream having 66.12% and 9.68% H2 and CO, respectively. For the WGS reactor, a Pt/HAP catalyst achieved 100% conversion of CO at 0.101 MPa and 723 K. Combining the two catalysts at an optimized temperature of 923 K for over 15 h resulted in H2 and CO levels at 69.85% and 1.77%, respectively: thus, increasing the production rate of H2 by 5% while reducing CO by 81%. Coking did occur during the GSR reaction. Overall, the combined reactor has potential to reduce complexity and energy usage.