Abstract
Oxidative steam reforming of ethanol (OSRE) was studied over Rh/CeO 2/Al 2O 3 catalysts in a micro-channel reactor. First, the catalyst support, Al 2O 3, was deposited on to the metallic substrate by washcoating and then the CeO 2 and active metal were sequentially impregnated. The effect of support composition as well as active metal composition on oxidative steam reforming of ethanol in a micro-channel reactor was studied at atmospheric pressure, with water to ethanol molar ratio of 6 and oxygen to ethanol molar ratio ranging from 0.5 to 1.5, over a temperature range of 350â550 °C. Ceria added to 1%Rh/Al 2O 3 showed higher activity and selectivity than 1%Rh/Al 2O 3 alone. Out of the various catalysts tested, 2%Rh/20%CeO 2/Al 2O 3 performed well in terms of activity, selectivity and stability. The OSRE performance was compared with that of SRE over 2%Rh/20%CeO 2/Al 2O 3 catalyst at identical operating conditions. Compared to SRE, the activity in OSRE was higher; however the selectivity to desired products was slightly lower. The H 2 yield obtained in OSRE was âź112 m 3 kg â1 h â1, as compared to âź128 m 3 kg â1 h â1 in SRE. The stability test performed on 2%Rh/20%CeO 2/Al 2O 3 at 500 °C for OSRE showed that the catalyst was stable for âź40 h and then started to deactivate slowly. The comparison between packed bed reactor and micro-channel reactor showed that the micro-channel reactor can be used for OSRE to produce hydrogen without any diffusional effects in the catalyst layer.
Published Version
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