Hydrogen Production from an Ethanol Reformer Via Thermal Management Over Various Catalysts

AbstractThis study carried out hydrogen production by reforming of ethanol. In this experiment the parameters were, including ethanol supply rate, O2/EtOH (Oxygen/Ethanol molar ratio), catalysts (Fe, Co, Ni, Pt, Pd, Rh and Ru), and the reforming temperature was provided with heat re-circulation, H2+CO concentration were analyzed. First, for this system the commercialized catalysts was adopted to a suitable range of flow rate. The experimental results indicated that the optimal (H2+CO) concentration of 43.41% can be obtained by using rhodium (Rh). Additionally, in this system the reforming performance of Rh and Ru catalysts with energy-saving methods were compared against its original system. The experimental results obtained demonstrated that the conversion efficiency of ethanol, concentration of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, could be enhanced by means of heat insulation and heat recycling. The reforming performance satisfactorily was greater by using Ru catalyst than that by Rh catalyst