Modeling of Glycerol Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production over Bimetallic Co-Ni/Al2O3

Glycerol steam reforming has been performed in a packed-bed micro reactor containing bimetallic Co-Ni/Al2O3 for reaction temperatures between 798 and 700 K at atmospheric pressure. Glycerol consumption rate data analysis implicates fractional orders with respect to both glycerol (0.25) and steam (0.36) with an activation energy of 63.3 kJ mol-1. Similar treatment for H2, CO2, CO, and CH4 production rate evinced positive fractional orders for both reactants with the exception of CO which has mild inhibition by steam (-0.065). The steam reforming of the main biodiesel by-product, glycerol, has been catching up the interest of the scientific community in the recent years. Hydrogen itself is seen as a very attractive clean fuel for the future. Therefore, the glycerol steam reforming(GSR) process would have a tremendous global environmental impact. In the recent years, intensive research regarding GSR thermodynamics, catalysts, reaction mechanisms and kinetics has been done, aiming for describing the process.

Modeling of Glycerol Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production over Bimetallic Co-Ni/Al2O3 Keywords:

Glycerol , Steam reforming , Hydrogen , Modeling