Andrew Hsu

Non-Precious Metal Catalytic Materials for Auto-Thermal Reforming

Auto-thermal reforming (ATR) of bio-ethanol is a promising process for hydrogen production, which can lead to the possibility of directly using low concentration ethanol from fermentation plants without going through the energy-consuming distillation and dehydration processes, saving both energy and cost. Ni-based and Co-based catalysts are active for hydrogen production in ATR, where the hydrogen yield and stability are important factors to be considered. To address the concerns of selectivity and deactivation, iron was introduced into Ni-based and Co-based catalysts via wet-impregnation. The catalysts were characterized with TPR, XRD and XPS, and tested in ATR of ethanol. All the results show that iron can play an important positive role in both nickel-based and Co-based catalysts for auto-thermal reforming because of its enhancement of catalytic activity, hydrogen selectivity, as well as durability.