The role of surface reactions on the active and selective catalyst design for bioethanol steam reforming

In order to study the role of surface reactions involved in bioethanol steam reforming mechanism, a very active and selective catalyst for hydrogen production was analysed. The highest activity was obtained at 700 °C, temperature at which the catalyst achieved an ethanol conversion of 100% and a selectivity to hydrogen close to 70%. It also exhibited a very high hydrogen production efficiency, higher than 4.5 mol H₂ per mol of EtOH fed. The catalyst was operated at a steam to carbon ratio (S/C) of 4.8, at 700 °C and atmospheric pressure. No by-products, such as ethylene or acetaldehyde were observed. In order to consider a further application in an ethanol processor, a long-term stability test was performed under the conditions previously reported. After 750 h, the catalyst still exhibited a high stability and selectivity to hydrogen production. Based on the intermediate products detected by temperature programmed desorption and reaction (TPD and TPR) experiments, a reaction pathway was proposed. Firstly, the adsorbed ethanol is dehydrogenated to acetaldehyde producing hydrogen. Secondly, the adsorbed acetaldehyde is transformed into acetone via acetic acid formation. Finally, acetone is reformed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide, which were the final reaction products. The promotion of such reaction sequence is the key to develop an active, selective and stable catalyst, which is the technical barrier for hydrogen production by ethanol reforming.