Ni catalyst supported on open-cell ceramic foam for glycerol steam reforming

Abstract

This work studied of nickel catalyst on open-cell ceramic foam for hydrogen production from glycerol steam reforming. Effect of different foam materials (alumina and zirconia), different pore density (PPI) at 10, 20 and 30 PPI and different feed flow rate (0.04, 0.2 and 0.4 ml/min) on physical and chemical properties and catalyst performance in fixed-bed reactor (16 mm diameter, 500 mm length and 20 mm catalyst bed) were investigated. Fresh and used catalysts were characterized by various techniques including XRD, SEM-EDX, H2-TPR, ICP, N2 adsorption-desorption, TPO and TGA. Catalyst performance was observed in glycerol steam reforming in condition as follows; atmospheric pressure at 600 oC with molar ratio of feed (glycerol : water) at 1:9. From results of experiment, alumina foam showed higher glycerol conversion and H2 yield than zirconia foam because of good adhesion and catalyst dispersion. Catalyst with high pore density provided high performance because of high amount nickel on foam. Feed flow rate affected glycerol conversion and H2 yield. If feed flow rate was low, catalyst performance was high because low inlet glycerol and flowing through the bed slowly but entire bed if catalyst was not used. If feed flow rate was higher, glycerol conversion and H2 yield were decreased because high amount of glycerol and flowing through the bed too fast caused catalyst cannot convert reactant to products in time. Therefore, using structured catalyst with certain bed height, it was necessary to find suitable feed flow rate for effective catalyst performance.