Inter-relationship between preparation methods, nickel loading, characteristics and performance in the reforming of crude ethanol over Ni/Al2O3 catalysts: A neural network approach

Artificial neural network (ANN) approach was used to design an optimum Ni/Al2O3 catalyst for the production of hydrogen by the catalytic reforming of crude ethanol based on determining the inter-relationships between catalyst-preparation methods, nickel loading, catalyst characteristics and catalyst performance. ANN could predict hydrogen production performance of various Ni/Al2O3 catalysts of various elemental compositions and methods of preparation in the production of hydrogen by the catalytic reforming of crude ethanol in terms of crude-ethanol conversion, hydrogen selectivity and hydrogen yield. Specifically on catalyst design, ANN was used to determine the optimum catalyst conditions for obtaining maximum hydrogen production performance of a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst for the production of hydrogen by the catalytic reforming of crude ethanol. The optimal hydrogen yield was 4.4 mol %, and the associated crude-ethanol conversion and H2 selectivity for the optimal hydrogen yield were 79.6 and 91.4 mol%, respectively. The optimal catalyst was the one prepared by the coprecipitation method with the optimal nickel loading of 12.4 wt% and an optimal aluminum composition of 42.5 wt%.