Na2ZrO3 stability under reforming/regeneration cycles during the steam reforming of ethanol with CO2 absorption

• Combination of SRE and CO2 Capture by Na2ZrO3 for H2 production.
• Conditions: H2O/C2H5OH/Na2ZrO3 = 6:1:2.5 molar ratio, T = 600 °C, SV = 414 h−1.
• High stability of Na2ZrO3 under 10 consecutive reforming/regeneration cycles.
• H2 production reached 91.3% mol and 5.2 CO2, 1.2 CO, and 2.2 CH4% mol.

In this work Na2ZrO3 and a Ni–Al2O3 catalyst were used to evaluate the hydrogen production by the steam reforming of ethanol in combination with CO2 absorption (SREA). The Na2ZrO3 was synthesized by the solid state method with a Na2CO3/ZrO2 = 1:1 molar ratio and calcined at 900 °C in air. A 25% W Ni–Al2O3 catalyst was synthesized by incipient impregnation and calcined at 900 °C in air. During reforming, operating conditions were: H2O/C2H5OH/Na2ZrO3 = 6:1:2.5 feed molar ratio, T = 600 °C, SV = 414 h−1. Na2ZrO3 absorbent was separately regenerated at 900 °C and air. Experimental reaction results indicate a high stability of Na2ZrO3 under 10 consecutive reforming/regeneration cycles allowing to reach SREA equilibrium values. H2 production reached 91.3% mol of accompanied by 5.2 CO2, 1.2 CO, and 2.2 CH4% mol for each of the 10 consecutive cycles. These results show Na2ZrO3 high stability towards multi-cycle SREA operation.