Steam reforming, partial oxidation and oxidative steam reforming for hydrogen production from ethanol over cerium nickel based oxyhydride catalyst

Abstract

H2 production from ethanol was studied on a cerium nickel based (CeNi1OY) catalyst in presence of water (SRE), in presence of oxygen with different concentrations (POE) and in presence of oxygen and water (OSRE). The influence of different parameters was analyzed, such as the reaction temperature, reactants concentration (oxygen/ethanol/water), and in situ pre-treatment in H2. At low temperature a high activity i.e., ethanol conversion and H2 formation can be obtained when the solid is previously in situ treated in H2 at 250°C i.e., in the oxyhydride form. Adding O2 allows increasing ethanol conversion at low temperature. Different physicochemical techniques, including Inelastic Neutron Scattering (INS), were used to characterize the catalyst. An active site based on the formation of anionic vacancies and a mechanism involving a heterolytic abstraction of a hydride species from ethanol are envisaged.