Kinetic Study of Steam Reforming of Ethanol on Ni-Based Ceria–Zirconia Catalyst

Abstract

This article focuses on the hydrogen production from steam reforming of ethanol over nickel-based ceria–zirconia catalyst. A ceria–zirconia support was prepared via the coprecipitation method, followed by wet impregnation for nickel metal. The characterization of catalyst and the support was done. The experiments were conducted in a fixed-bed tubular reactor and results were reported in terms of hydrogen yield, product selectivity, and ethanol conversion. The effect of weight hourly space time, temperature, and time on stream was analyzed at a water:ethanol molar ratio of 9:1. Results revealed that the H2 yield was ∼5.3 mol (out of 6 mol), whereas ethanol conversion was almost 100% at 700 °C. Kinetics modeling was carried out on this catalyst using the Eley–Rideal mechanism and the power law model. The value of activation energy and order of reaction were found to be 64.8 kJ/mol and 1, respectively, for the power law model.