Toshio Shinoki

Hydrogen Production by Bio-Fuel Steam Reforming at Low Reaction Temperature

The authors reveal the dominant chemical reactions and the optimum conditions, supposing the design of ethanol steam-reforming reactors. Specifically speaking, experiments are conducted for Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst, together with those for Ru/Al2 O3 catalyst for reference. Using a household-use-scale reactor with well-controlled temperature distributions, the authors compare experimental results with chemical-equilibrium theories. It has revealed by Shinoki et al. (2011) that the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst shows rather high performance with high hydrogen concentration CH2 at low values of reaction temperature TR . Because, the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst promotes the ethanol-steam-reforming and water-gas-shift reactions, but does not promote the methanation reaction. So, in the present study, the authors reveal that the Ru/Al2 O3 catalyst needs high TR > 770 K for better performance than the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst, and that the Ru/Al2 O3 catalyst shows lower performance at TR < 770 K. Then, the Ru/Al2 O3 catalyst is considered to activate all the three reactions even at low TR . Furthermore, concerning the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst, the authors reveal the influences of liquid-hourly space velocity LHSV upon concentrations such as CH2 , CCO2 , CCO and CCH4 and the influence of LHSV upon the ethanol conversion XC2H5OH , in a range of LHSV from 0.05 h−1 to 0.8 h−1 , at S/C = 3.0 and TR = 520 K. And, the authors reveal the influences of the thermal profile upon CH2 , CCO2 , CCO , CCH4 and XC2H5OH , for several LHSV’s. To conclude, with well-controlled temperatures, the reformed gas can be close to the theory. In addition, the authors investigate the influences of S/C.Copyright

Thermal Characteristics of Heavy-Hydrocarbons-Fuel Reactor for Fuel Cell System

We has successfully developed a small and simple steam-reforming reactor for n-dodecane as a heavy-hydrocarbons fuel. The reactor satisfied the target thermal conditions. Under the conditions, we have measured the inside temperature profile and the reaction performance. The reaction becomes more active at the position where the temperature T>600°C. At steam-to-carbon S/C≥5.0, hydrogen-molecule ratio R H2 is nearly-constant to about 70%. From a practical point of view, the best operating condition is at S/C ≥ 5 for present reactor.

Flow-Rate and Reaction-Temperature Effects Upon Ethanol Steam Reforming With Cu/ZnO/Al2O3

The authors reveal the dominant chemical reactions and the optimum conditions, supposing the design of ethanol steam-reforming reactors. Specifically, experiments are conducted for Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst, together with those for Ru/Al2 O3 catalyst for reference. Using a household-use-scale reactor with well-controlled temperature distributions, the authors compare experimental results with chemical-equilibrium theories. As a result, the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst shows rather high performance at low values of reaction temperature T. This suggests that the Cu/ZnO/Al2 O3 catalyst promotes the ethanol-steam-reforming and water-gas-shift reactions, but does not promote the methanation reaction. Furthermore, the authors have researched the influence of liquid-hourly space velocity LHSV upon the ethanol conversion XC2H5OH in the range of LHSV from 0.05 to 1.40h−1 , S/C = 3.0 and T = 420K, 470K and 520K, and the influence of LHSV upon concentrations such as CH2 , CCO2 , CCO and CCH4 in the range of LHSV from 0.05 to 1.20h−1 , at S/C = 3.0 and T = 470K. In addition, the authors have proposed a new and simple method to recover the catalyst performance.Copyright