Hydrogen production from glycerol steam reforming over molybdena–alumina catalysts

• Molybdena nanomaterials, a new catalyst for glycerol steam reforming
• Species distribution varies from spherical particles to sharp and thin pieces.
• Molybdena surface density has an influence on hydrogen yield.
• The optimum ratio steam to glycerol for steam reforming, water gas shift reaction and syngas was investigated.

The glycerol steam reforming was investigated on alumina supported molybdena catalysts (with 2, 5 and 12 wt.%) prepared by the sol–gel method and gel combustion. The catalysts were characterized by XRD, BET, UV–VIS, DRIFT, SEM and TEM. The catalytic performances were studied at 400–500 °C, steam to glycerol molar ratio between 9:1 and 20:1 and feed flow rate 0.04–0.08 ml/min. The conversion is directly proportional to molybdena loading, while the hydrogen selectivity has reached greater value on catalyst with 2% MoO3. The optimum ratio steam to glycerol for reforming is 15:1 and for decomposition in syngas 9:1 and the ratio 20:1 favors water gas shift reaction.

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