Effect of Active Metal Supported on SiO2 for Selective Hydrogen Production from the Glycerol Steam Reforming Reaction

Abstract

The performance of nickel, cobalt, and copper supported on silica as catalysts was evaluated for the glycerol steam reforming (GSR) reaction. The samples were characterized by nitrogen-porosimetry according to Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), while the deposited carbon on the catalytic surface was measured with a CHN-analyzer. Catalysts were studied in order to investigate the effect of the reaction temperature on (i) glycerol total conversion, (ii) glycerol conversion to gaseous products, (iii) hydrogen selectivity and yield, (iv) selectivity of gaseous products, and (v) selectivity of liquid products. The results showed that the Ni based on silica (Ni/Si) catalyst was more active and produced less liquid effluents than the catalysts that used an active metal such as Co or Cu. Moreover, the H2 yield from the Ni/Si catalyst was very close to the theoretical maximum predicted by thermodynamics, and the CO2 production was favoured in comparison to CO production, which is important for use in fuel cells.

Keywords

• Hydrogen
• Glycerol
• Steam Reforming
• SiO2 supported catalysts
• Biodiesel