Catalytic Steam Research Articles

Catalytic steam reforming of glycerol over Ni–La2O3–CeO2/SBA-15 catalyst for stable hydrogen-rich gas production

Ni-based catalysts (Ni, Ni–La2O3, and Ni–La2O3–CeO2) on mesoporous silica supports (SBA-15 and KIT-6) were prepared by an incipient wetness impregnation and tested in glycerol steam reforming (GSR) for hydrogen-rich gas production. The catalysts were characterized by the N2-physisorption, TPD, X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM-EDS, and TEM techniques. N2-physisorption results of calcined catalysts highlight that adding of La2O3 increased surface area of the catalyst by preventing pore mouth plugging in SBA-15, which was frequently observed due to the growth of NiO crystals. A set of GSR experiments over the catalysts were performed in an up-flow continuous packed-bed reactor at 650 °C and atmospheric pressure. The highest hydrogen concentration of 62 mol% was observed with a 10%Ni–5%La2O3 –5%CeO2/SBA-15 catalyst at a LHSV of 5.8 h−1. Adding of CeO2 to the catalyst appeared to increase catalytic stability by facilitating the oxidative gasification of carbon formed on/near nickel active sites of Ni–La2O3–CeO2/SBA-15 and Ni–La2O3–CeO2/KIT-6 catalyst during the glycerol steam reforming reaction.

Co-pyrolysis\u2013catalytic steam reforming of cellulose/lignin with polyethylene/polystyrene for the production of hydrogen

Co-pyrolysis of biomass biopolymers (lignin and cellulose) with plastic wastes (polyethylene and polystyrene) coupled with downstream catalytic steam reforming of the pyrolysis gases for the production of a hydrogen-rich syngas is reported. The catalyst used was 10 wt.% nickel supported on MCM-41. The influence of the process parameters of temperature and the steam flow rate was examined to optimize hydrogen and syngas production. The cellulose/plastic mixtures produced higher hydrogen yields compared with the lignin/plastic mixtures. However, the impact of raising the catalytic steam reforming temperature from 750 to 850 °C was more marked for lignin addition. For example, the hydrogen yield for cellulose/polyethylene at a catalyst temperature of 750 °C was 50.3 mmol g−1 and increased to 60.0 mmol g−1 at a catalyst temperature of 850 °C. However, for the lignin/polyethylene mixture, the hydrogen yield increased from 25.0 to 50.0 mmol g−1 representing a twofold increase in hydrogen yield. The greater influence on hydrogen and yield for the lignin/plastic mixtures compared to the cellulose/plastic mixtures is suggested to be due to the overlapping thermal degradation profiles of lignin and the polyethylene and polystyrene. The input of steam to the catalyst reactor produced catalytic steam reforming conditions and a marked increase in hydrogen yield. The influence of increased steam input to the process was greater for the lignin/plastic mixtures compared to the cellulose/plastic mixtures, again linked to the overlapping thermal degradation profiles of the lignin and the plastics. A comparison of the Ni/MCM-41 catalyst with Ni/Al2O3 and Ni/Y-zeolite-supported catalysts showed that the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst gave higher yields of hydrogen and syngas.Graphic abstract

Catalytic steam reforming of biomass fast pyrolysis volatiles over Ni–Co bimetallic catalysts

The influence of the metal selected as catalytic active phase in the two-step biomass pyrolysis-catalytic reforming strategy has been analyzed. The pyrolysis step was carried out in a conical spouted bed reactor at 500°C, whereas steam reforming was performed in a fluidized bed reactor at 600°C. Ni/Al2O3, Co/Al2O3 and two bimetallic Ni-Co/Al2O3 catalysts with different metal loadings were synthesized by wet impregnation method, and fresh and deactivated catalysts were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR), X-Ray powder Diffraction (XRD), Temperature Programmed Oxidation (TPO), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Although Ni/Al2O3 and both bimetallic catalysts had similar initial activity in terms of oxygenate conversion, (higher than 98%), the poorer metal dispersion observed in both bimetallic catalysts led to a fast decrease in conversion due to the promotion of coke formation on large particles. This occurred even though Ni–Co alloy formation has a positive influence by hindering the oxidation of Co0 species. The main cause for the deactivation of these catalysts is the formation of a coke with amorphous structure. The poor initial performance of Co/Al2O3 catalyst is related to changes in the Co0 oxidation state induced by the presence of steam, which led to a fast deactivation of this catalyst.

Numerical Simulation of Methane and Propane Reforming Over a Porous Rh/Al2O3 Catalyst in Stagnation-Flows: Impact of Internal and External Mass Transfer Limitations on Species Profiles

Hydrogen production by catalytic partial oxidation and steam reforming of methane and propane towards synthesis gas are numerically investigated in stagnation-flow over a disc coated with a porous Rh/Al2O3 layer. A one-dimensional flow field is coupled with three models for internal diffusion and with a 62-step surface reaction mechanism. Numerical simulations are conducted with the recently developed computer code DETCHEMSTAG. Dusty-Gas model, a reaction-diffusion model and a simple effectiveness factor model, are alternatively used in simulations to study the internal mass transfer inside the 100 µm thick washcoat layer. Numerically predicted species profiles in the external boundary layer agree well with the recently published experimental data. All three models for internal diffusion exhibit strong species concentration gradients in the catalyst layer. In partial oxidation conditions, a thin total oxidation zone occurs close to the gas-washcoat interface, followed by a zone of steam and dry reforming of methane. Increasing the reactor pressure and decreasing the inlet flow velocity increases/decreases the external/internal mass transfer limitations. The comparison of reaction-diffusion and Dusty-Gas model results reveal the insignificance of convective flow on species transport inside the washcoat. Simulations, which additionally solve a heat transport equation, do not show any temperature gradients inside the washcoat.

A kinetic model for air-steam reforming of bio-oil over Rh–Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst: Acetol as a model compound

A new kinetic model is proposed for catalytic reforming of acetol to synthesis gas over a Rh–Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. Acetol is one of the most important bio-oil model compounds formed under reactive flash volatilization reaction conditions. The model was implemented in the Aspen Plus simulation package and used to predict the product gas composition at different reaction temperatures and steam and oxygen ratios. The contributions of the reactions both in the reactor freeboard and the catalytic bed were assessed using CSTR and PFR reactor models, respectively. The reaction scheme included decomposition, steam reforming, and water-gas shift reactions. The results from the model predicted the product distribution within an acceptable degree of tolerance. This study confirms that thermal decomposition and partial oxidation of acetol precede the catalytic reactions involving steam. The effects of temperature, oxygen concentration in the feed, the volume of the freeboard, and the catalyst bed height can all be evaluated with this new kinetic model. This work suggests that bio-oil decomposed into different fractions of molecules like acetol can be successfully modelled by a series of decomposition reactions followed by partial oxidation and catalytic steam conversion. The heat transfer within the catalyst bed is found to be critical for achieving a good match with the experimental results.

Mathematical modelling of the solar-driven steam reforming of methanol for a solar thermochemical micro-fluidized bed reformer: thermal performance and thermochemical conversion

A solar thermochemical reformer/receiver which combines a ST-μFB reformer and a catalytic bed of micro-sized particles offers a novel approach for the solar-driven catalytic steam reforming of methanol (SDCSR-MeOH) method. Heat transfer, mass transfer and solar thermochemical conversion performance have a great significance on the SDCSR-MeOH method due to high interfacial absorption surface of micro-sized particles. The solar radiation has been coupled to the ST-μFB reformer as a novel driving energy for conducting the endothermic reactions of methanol (CH3OH) inside ST-μFB reformer to produce solar H2. Solar H2 had won an important role as renewable feedstocks for different chemical processes and particularly in fuel cells applications. A non-isothermal mathematical model was described by a set of partial differential equations (PDEs) that couples to a complex kinetic model of the SDCSR-MeOH employing the Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst. The system of novel PDEs has been transformed into simpler system of ordinary differential equations using the coupled integral equation approach. Validation results demonstrate that the two validated cases for the reaction temperature against the simulated results by authors had reached a good fit as well as the solar thermochemical conversion of CH3OH. The temperature profiles of the gas phase, solid phase and ST-μFB reformer wall were simulated at three different positions from ST-μFB reformer. The reactant and product distributions inside ST-μFB reformer were analysed at two different reaction temperatures. The effect of the reaction temperature was studied on the conversion of CH3OH and yield of H2. In addition, the action of the weight hourly space velocity has been analysed on the conversion of CH3OH.

Steam Gasification of Caking Bituminous Coal using Composite Bimetallic Catalyst

The catalytic steam gasification of Yanzhou (YZ) bituminous coal char loading with K2CO3 and CaO was studied in a fixed bed with 20 mm in inner diameter. The influence of K2CO3 on caking properties of Yanzhou bituminous coal was investigated. The relationship between carbon conversion and reaction time and catalyst loading amount of Yanzhou coal char was measured from 700 to 850°C. The effects of reaction temperature and catalyst loading amount on molar yield of the gasification gas were studied. The influence of catalyst on the microstructure of the YZ coal char was determined. The results show that K2CO3 had significant effects of caking destruction and catalytic gasification on YZ coal. The carbon conversion of YZ coal char increased with the increase of gasification temperature and K2CO3 loading amount. The addition of CaO could improve the carbon conversion of char and promoted the generation of gasification gas to some extent. The molar yield of gasification gas increased with the increase of gasification temperature, and H2 increased the most. The 002 peak of YZ coal char became lower and wider, and moved towards the lower position with the addition of K2CO3 and thus decrease the graphitization trend.

Catalytic Steam Reforming of Bio-Oil-Derived Acetic Acid over CeO2-ZnO Supported Ni Nanoparticle Catalysts.

The steam reforming of bio-oil-derived acetic acid over the developed Ni/CeO2-ZnO nanoparticle catalysts for hydrogen production was studied. The correlations of CeO2 to ZnO mass ratio (CZMR) and nickel loading with the properties and performances of Ni/CeO2-ZnO catalysts were explored. The H2, CO, and potential H2 yields followed a Gaussian normal distribution with increasing the CZMR. An exponential function equation was established to correlate the H2, CO, and potential H2 yields with Ni loading. As the CZMR increased from 0 to 1/3, the H2 yield increased from 57.8 to 69.4%, with a growth rate of 20.1%. Further, on increasing the CZMR from 1/3 to 3, the H2 yield decreased by 37.6%. The CO yield showed a similar trend for the H2 yield on increasing the CZMR, which first increased to a peak value, then started to decrease rapidly and finally stabilized. The yield of H2 increased significantly from 20.6 to 73.5%, with the increase of nickel loading from 0 to 15%. Further, on increasing the nickel loading from 15 to 25%, the H2 yield increased by only 5.8%. With the CZMR of 1/3 and the nickel loading of 15%, the selectivities of H2 and CO were as high as 91.6 and 42.3%, respectively.

Catalytic steam reforming of in-situ tar from rice husk over MCM-41 supported LaNiO3 to produce hydrogen rich syngas

Abstract In this paper, a series of catalysts loaded with different amount of LaNiO3 on MCM-41 supported were studied for steam reforming of biomass tar reaction using in-situ tar in double fixed-bed. Different methods including XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption, SEM, XPS and TG-DTG were employed for characterization of fresh and spent catalysts. The results of low-angle XRD and N2-adsorption-desorption analysis shown that MCM-41 supported was successfully synthesized. In the first-stage fixed-bed, in-situ tar was produced by pyrolysis of rice husk at 450 °C. Simultaneously, the LaNiO3 and XLaNiO3/MCM-41 (X = 0.025, 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1) catalysts were investigated for hydrogen rich syngas production at various reforming temperature (500 °C–900 °C) and steam/carbon mass ratio (S/C = 0.6–1) in second-stage fixed-bed. Among all the catalysts, 0.1LaNiO3/MCM-41 catalyst displayed a higher gas yield of hydrogen (61.9Nm3/kg) at 800 °C and S/C (0.8). At the same conditions after five-time cycles, 0.1LaNiO3/MCM-41 showed a stable hydrogen gas composition of around 50%, and 0.1LaNiO3/MCM-41 catalyst was effective in catalysis of phenol compound in in-situ tar by GC-MS results. TGA-DTG and Raman analysis revealed the carbon deposition was mostly amorphous on 0.1LaNiO3/MCM-41, and lattice oxygen released to remove deposited carbon was the possible reason for 0.1LaNiO3/MCM-41 catalyst's stable catalytic performance by XPS results.

Influence of hydrothermal treatment on structural property of NiZrAl mixed-metal oxides and on catalytic steam reforming of glycerol for hydrogen production

NiZrAl layered double hydroxides (LDH) precursors were synthesized by co-precipitation and homogeneous precipitation processes. The introduction of hydrothermal treatment into crystallization showed its significant influences on structure of LDH as well as mixed-metal oxides after thermal decomposition. The characterization results showed that the catalysts prepared by hydrothermal synthesis involved bigger pore diameter of ca. 13.5 nm and wider pore size distribution of 2–60 nm, and hydrothermal treatment was helpful to enhance the reduction of NiO species weakly interacted with support and to enhance the interaction among the metal oxides. Although the Ni dispersion, the surface area as well as the ability of anti-sintering were evidently improved, the ability of coke resistance decreased by 2 times for samples prepared by co-precipitation and by nearly 10 times for the ones prepared by homogeneous precipitation due to the enlarged pores. The maximum value of conversion to gaseous products (96.5%) and minimum deposited coke (36 mgc/gcat.) were achieved on NiZrAl-u sample.

An Eco-Friendly Fluidizable FexOy/CaO-γ-Al2O3 Catalyst for Tar Cracking during Biomass Gasification

The present study deals with the development, characterization, and performance evaluation of an eco-friendly catalyst, using 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (2M4MP) as a surrogate tar. The 2M4MP was selected due to its chemical functionalities and the fact that it is a good model compound to represent the tar formed during biomass low temperature gasification. The eco-friendly catalyst was prepared using the typical Fe and Ca minerals which are present in ash. These ash components were added to a fluidizable γ-Al2O3 support using a multistep incipient impregnation, yielding Fe oxides as an active phase and CaO as the promoter. The prepared catalyst displayed a 120 m2/g BET specific surface area, with few γ-Al2O3 bulk phase changes, as observed with XRD. TPD-NH3 and pyridine FTIR allowed us to show the significant influence of CaO reduced support acidity. A TPR analysis provided evidence of catalyst stability during consecutive reduction–oxidation cycles. Furthermore, catalyst evaluation vis-à-vis catalytic steam 2M4MP gasification was performed using the fluidized CREC riser simulator. The obtained results confirm the high performance of the developed catalyst, with 2M4MP conversion being close to 100% and with selectivities of up to 98.6% for C1-C2 carbon-containing species, at 500 °C, with a 7.5 s reaction time and 1.5 g steam/g 2M4MP. These high tar conversions are promising efficiency indicators for alumina catalysts doped with Fe and Ca. In addition, the used catalyst particles could be blended with biochar to provide an integrated solid supplement that could return valuable mineral supplements to the soil.

Ni-Cu bimetallic catalysts on Yttria-stabilized zirconia for hydrogen production from ethanol steam reforming

One of the key challenges in catalytic ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is the ease of deactivation of the catalysts caused by metal sintering and carbon deposition. In this study, bimetallic Ni-Cu catalysts supported on Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) have been prepared for ESR. Bimetallic Ni-Cu catalysts were active for ESR and the addition of Cu can improve the Ni performance and stability of the catalysts in ESR. Adding a small amount of Cu to the catalyst successfully led to formation of Cu-Ni alloy, which is efficient for improving reducibility of the catalyst. However, high Cu content limited the activity of the catalysts due to the lack of exposed active sites of Ni and Cu. In ESR, Ni was proposed to be responsible for CC bond cleavage while Cu was for the promotion of WGS. YSZ has very limited role in reducing coke formation as the catalyst support though it has high surface oxygen mobility, which is indicated by the serious deactivation by coke formation on Ni/YSZ monometallic catalyst. However, Cu addition on bimetallic Ni-Cu catalysts is proved to be effective to improve stability of the catalysts by reducing coke deposition. Among all the catalysts, Cu1Ni9/YSZ exhibited superior performance and stability with negligible activity loss during 20 h ESR reaction at 450 °C and 650 °C, respectively.

Molybdenum recovery from spent Mo-based dispersed catalyst accumulated in heavy oil steam cracking coke

Recovery of molybdenum has been studied from coke formed as a by-product of catalytic steam cracking of heavy oil containing a Mo-based nanodispersed unsupported catalyst, and from mixtures of industrial coke with Mo-based compounds – as model systems, via combustion in the fluidized bed of deep oxidation catalyst and the fixed bed of coke (without a catalyst). Quantitative carbon removal was found to be impossible even for several cycles of combustion in fluidized catalyst bed, most probably due to a drop of size of the coke particles to those of too small in order to have a sufficient contact time for the complete burning off. Non-catalytic combustion in the fixed bed mode showed best efficacy resulting in complete carbon removal without any Mo losses in the range of 450–750 °C.

Synthetic natural gas production from the three stage (i) pyrolysis (ii) catalytic steam reforming (iii) catalytic hydrogenation of waste biomass

Synthetic natural gas (methane) production was systematically investigated by optimizing various operating parameters using a three stage (i) biomass pyrolysis (ii) catalytic steam reforming (iii) catalytic hydrogenation reactor system. Several operating parameters were optimized including catalytic steam reforming temperature, steam weight hourly space velocity (WHSV), catalytic hydrogenation temperature and hydrogen gas space velocity. In addition, the influence of different metal catalysts (Ni/Al2O3, Fe/Al2O3, Co/Al2O3, and Mo/Al2O3), catalyst calcination temperature, catalyst metal loadings, and different catalyst support materials (Al2O3, SiO2, and MCM-41) was carried out specifically to optimize catalytic hydrogenation in the third stage reactor. The highest methane yield of 13.73 mmoles g−1biomass (22.02 g CH4 100 g−1biomass) was obtained with a second stage catalytic steam reforming temperature of 800 °C over a 10 wt% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst and with a steam WHSV of 5 mL h−1 g−1catalyst together with a third stage catalytic hydrogenation temperature of 350 °C over a 10 wt% Ni/Al2O3 catalyst with added hydrogen gas space velocity of 2400 mL h−1 g−1catalyst.

Catalytic Conversion of Coal and Biomass Volatiles: A Review

This paper presents a review of recent research on direct upgrading of coal/biomass volatiles into aromatics by catalytic pyrolysis and syngas by gasification with catalytic steam reforming. Coal/b...

Renewable hydrogen production from steam reforming of glycerol (SRG) over ceria-modified γ-alumina supported Ni catalyst

Excess crude glycerol derived as a by-product from biodiesel industry prompts the need to valorise glycerol to value-added chemicals. In this context, catalytic steam reforming of glycerol (SRG) was proposed as a promising and sustainable alternative for producing renewable hydrogen (H2). Herein, the development of nickel (Ni) supported on ceria-modified mesoporous γ-alumina (γ-Al2O3) catalysts and their applications in catalytic SRG (at 550–750 °C, atmospheric pressure and weight hourly space velocity, WHSV, of 44,122 ml·g−1·h−1 (STP)) is presented. Properties of the developed catalysts were characterised using many techniques. The findings show that ceria modification improved Ni dispersion on γ-Al2O3 catalyst support with highly active small Ni particles, which led to a remarkable catalytic performance with the total glycerol conversion (ca. 99%), glycerol conversion into gaseous products (ca. 77%) and H2 yield (ca. 62%). The formation rate for H2 production (14.4 × 10−5 mol·s−1·g−1, TOF (H2) = 3412 s−1) was significantly improved with the [email protected]2O3 catalyst, representing nearly a 2-fold increase compared with that of the conventional [email protected]2O3 catalyst. In addition, the developed catalyst also exhibited comparatively high stability (for 12 h) and coke resistance ability.

Catalytic steam reforming of toluene as model tar compound using Ni/coal fly ash catalyst

AbstractCoal fly ash (CFA), a solid waste from power plants, was selected as the support of Ni‐based catalysts used for steam reforming of toluene in a fixed‐bed reactor. The CFA support was thermally pretreatment first, followed by chemical activation with different treatment time (6 h to 4 days) in 2‐mol/L HNO3 solution. Then, series low‐cost catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation. The prepared catalysts were characterized suitably by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauere–Emmette–Teller (BET), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), temperature programmed desorption (TPD), and Raman techniques. According to the catalyst characterization, the chemical pretreatment could improve the support property by adjusting the chemical composition. The Fe‐rich Fe‐Ni and Ni‐Co alloy was formed by H2 reduction on the Ni/CFA‐6h and Co‐Ni/CFA‐6h catalysts, respectively. In the catalytic steam reforming of toluene, the Ni/CFA‐6h had the best catalytic active among all monometallic catalysts, which could be attributed to the existence of Fe0.94Ni0.06 particles, and its performance could be further improved after partly replacing Ni by Co. The Co‐Ni/CFA‐6h catalyst exhibited the best ability of carbon deposit resistance, implying that its catalytic performance slightly lower than Ni/SiO2 was due to the too large SBET surface area gap.

Effect of Additives on Ni‐Based Catalysts for Hydrogen‐Enriched Production from Steam Reforming of Biomass

The catalytic steam reforming of biomass for hydrogen production is investigated in a fixed‐bed reactor. A suitable additive and precursor is found in various additives (cobalt, strontium, and lanthanum) and nickel salt precursors (nickel nitrate, nickel acetate, nickel chloride, and nickel sulfate). Synthesized samples are characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), NH3 temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD), H2 temperature‐programmed reduction (TPR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Results show that Co and La doping of the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst improves the dispersion of surface‐active particles and reduces the particle size, increasing H2 production. The hydrogen volume fraction of La‐modified catalysts with 10% Ni is 38.96%, which is higher than 30.39% for the unmodified Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The lowest hydrogen yield of Ni–Sr/Al2O3 catalyst is 19.22%. This low catalytic activity is due to the reaction of Ni–Sr/Al2O3 with SiO2 found in biomass ash, which generates silicate without catalytic effect. The silicate melts and adheres to the catalyst surface at a high temperature, inhibiting the catalysis of nickel active sites. The maximum hydrogen yield obtained with nickel acetate as catalyst precursor is 51.41%, which is due to nickel acetate decomposing and forming more NiO in the amorphous state and improving the performance of catalyst.

SELECTIVE CATALYTIC OXIDATION AND STEAM OXYGEN CONVERSION OF METHANE INTO SYNTHESIS GAS

The results of the stability study of the developed dispersed optimal composition Pt-Ru = 1 : 1(Pt: Ru = 0.7 : 0.3, at.% ) of the catalyst in the reaction of selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) and steam oxygenconversion (SOC) of methane into synthesis gas at millisecond contact times are presented. Methods of catalystregeneration were determined. During the study of the stability of a low-percentage granular sample of 1.0%Pt-Ru/2% Ce/(θ+α)Al2O3 catalytic system in the process of oxidation of methane, regeneration methods were foundthat allow stable conduct of the process of SCO and SOC of methane for 410 hours. As a result of the process, asynthesis gas was obtained with a ratio of H2/CO = 2.0 without the formation of CO2, which is most suitable for itsuse in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of methanol and hydrocarbons. It is assumed that the reaction of SCO of CH4proceeds by a direct mechanism involving reduced Pt0, Ru0and Pt-Ru nanoclusters detected by TEM research aftertesting the stability of the developed Pt: Ru (1:1) catalyst on a carrier.

Optimization of hydrogen production via toluene steam reforming over Ni–Co supported modified-activated carbon using ANN coupled GA and RSM

Hydrogen (H2) is a clean fuel that can be produced from various resources including biomass. Optimization of H2 production from catalytic steam reforming of toluene using response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network coupled genetic algorithm (ANN-GA) models has been investigated. In RSM model, the central composite design (CCD) is employed in the experimental design. The CCD conditions are temperature (500–900 °C), feed flow rate (0.006–0.034 ml/min), catalyst weight (0.1–0.5 g) and steam-to-carbon molar ratio (1–9). ANN model employs a three-layered feed-forward backpropagation neural network in conjugation with the tangent sigmoid (tansig) and linear (purelin) as the transfer functions and Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm. Best network structure of 4-14-1 is developed and utilized in the GA optimization for determining the optimum conditions. An optimum H2 yield of 92.6% and 81.4% with 1.19% and 6.02% prediction error are obtained from ANN-GA and RSM models, respectively. The predictive capabilities of the two models are evaluated by statistical parameters, including the coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean square error (RMSE). Higher R2 and lower RSME values are reported for ANN-GA model (R2 = 0.95, RMSE = 4.09) demonstrating the superiority of ANN-GA in determining the nonlinear behavior compared to RSM model (R2 = 0.87, RMSE = 6.92). These results infer that ANN-GA is a more reliable and robust predictive steam reforming modelling tool for H2 production optimization compared to RSM model.