International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.42, No.34, 21667-21676, 2017
Steam reforming of model bio-oil compounds 2-butanone, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, ethyl acetate and butyraldehyde over Ni/Al2O3
Oil derived from fast pyrolysis of biomass (or bio-oil) is a candidate renewable feedstock for producing hydrogen (H-2). In this work, the steam reforming of model oxygenates present in the bio-oil aqueous fraction was studied in a fixed-bed reactor. Using Ni/Al2O3 catalyst, the reactions with 2-butanone, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, ethyl acetate and butyraldehyde were studied. To study the efficacy of the chosen catalyst for H-2 production, experiments were performed in the 623-773 K range using varying steam/carbon ratios in feed (15-25 mol/mol). The conversion of the various feeds was of the order: butyraldehyde > ethyl acetate > 1-methoxy-2-propanol > 2-butanone. The catalyst was characterized using SEM, XRD, TPR/TPD and TGA methods. It showed high stability for 7 h of time-on-stream. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.