Hydrogen production via catalytic reforming of the bio-oil model compounds: Acetic acid, phenol and hydroxyacetone

• New Ni/nano-Al2O3 was used for the reforming of bio-oil model compounds.
• It showed high activity for phenol, acetic acid and hydroxyacetone reforming.
• Long stability was achieved over the catalyst.
• Possible decomposition pathways for these three organics were proposed.

Catalytic reforming of three typical bio-oil model compounds, phenol, acetic acid and hydroxyacetone, has been carried out over a Ni/nano-Al2O3 catalyst. Al2O3, in the form of nano-rods of length approximately 40 nm, was selected as the catalyst support. The catalyst showed superior performance in terms of activity and stability. The conversions for phenol, acetic acid and hydroxyacetone reached 84.2%, 98.2% and 98.7%, respectively, at the reaction temperature of 700 °C. The corresponding hydrogen yields were 69%, 87% and 97.2%. The catalyst maintained its high reactivity for more than 10 h in the catalytic reforming of three model compounds. The influences of steam to carbon ratio, catalyst loading and Ni content in the catalyst on the reforming performance were also investigated. In addition, the possible decomposition pathways for phenol, acetic acid and hydroxyacetone are proposed.