Carbon deposition behavior in steam reforming of bio-oil model compound for hydrogen production

Catalyst deactivation caused by coke formation is a bottleneck in steam reforming of bio-oil for hydrogen production. The investigation of carbon deposition behavior can make a contribution to the improvement of catalyst and the knowledge of reaction mechanism. In this paper, m-cresol (C7H8O, one of the organic compounds present in bio-oil) was chosen as model compound. The experiment was carried out on a commercial Ni/MgO catalyst. As a comparative test, m-cresol decomposition showed carbon deposition can be formed more easily under higher temperature. In steam reforming process, for the competition of carbon deposition and carbon elimination, a peak value of coking formation rate was obtained in a broad range of temperature (575–900 °C). The increase of steam to carbon ratio can favor the carbon elimination. Final coking formation rate curve was determined under optimal reaction conditions and the results showed the severity of carbon deposition maintained a very low level during the entire reaction time. Based on the distribution of reforming products, high temperature and sufficient water feeding can favor the carbon conversion from solid and liquid phase to gaseous phase. Unreacted m-cresol is the main organic compound detected in liquid condensate. Some secondary reactions can be deduced through the other compounds detected. The carbon deposition state on catalyst surface can be in the form of nanofiber, but their concrete shapes can be different due to different reaction conditions.