Study of Ni/CeO2–ZnO catalysts in the production of H2 from acetone steam reforming

Abstract

Abstract This paper reports the study of new Ni/ZnO-based catalysts for hydrogen production from substoichiometric acetone steam reforming (ASR). The effect of CeO2 introduction is analyzed regarding the catalytic behavior and carbon deposits formation. ASR was studied at 600 °C using a steam/carbon ratio S/C = 1. Ni/xCeZnO (x = 10, 20, 30 CeO2 wt %) catalysts showed a better performance than the bare Ni/ZnO. Ni/xCeZnO generated a lower amount and less ordered carbon deposits than Ni/ZnO. The higher the CeO2 content in Ni/xCeZnO, the lower the amount of carbon deposits in the post-reaction catalyst. The highest H2 production under ASR at the experimental conditions used was achieved for the Ni/xCeZnO catalysts. In-situ DRIFTS-MS experiments under ESR conditions showed different reaction pathways over Ni/20CeZnO and Ni/ZnO catalysts.