Noncatalytic Reformation of Sucrose in Supercritical Water

The effect of space time and temperature on the non-catalytic reformation of sucrose in supercritical water was studied in a specially designed 0.4-L Haynes Alloy 230 tubular reactor. Experiments were performed non-catalytically in a continuous mode of operation at a constant pressure of 24.05 ± 0.04 MPa and at temperatures varying from 600°C to 760°C and space times between 55 to 245 seconds. Sucrose is a renewable, biological energy resource; the reformation of which would enable on-site and ondemand hydrogen production. Increasing space time and temperature increases the gasification percentage of sucrose along with the production of hydrogen gas, with temperature having a larger effect than space time. Gasification percentages of 99% were achieved using two different combinations of temperature and space time. A maximum of 7.9 moles of hydrogen gas was produced per mole of sucrose fed, which is 23% of the theoretical maximum possible, occurred at the highest temperature studied