Maximum Hydrogen Production by Autothermal Steam Reforming of Bio-oil With NiCuZnAl Catalyst

Abstract

Autothermal steam reforming (ATR) of bio-oil, which couples the endothermic steam reforming reaction with the exothermic partial oxidation, offers many advantages from a technical and economic point of view. Effective production of hydrogen through ATR of bio-oil was performed at lower temperature with NiCuZnAl catalyst. The highest hydrogen yield from bio-oil reached 64.3% with a nearly complete bio-oil conversion at 600 °C, the ratio of steam to carbon fed (S/C) of 3 and the oxygen to carbon ratio (O/C) of 0.34. The reaction conditions in ATR including temperature, O/C, S/C and weight hourly space velocity can be used to control both hydrogen yield and products distribution. The comparison between the ATR and common steam reforming of bio-oil was studied. The mechanism of the ATR of bio-oil was also discussed.