Nickel catalysts applied in steam reforming of glycerol for hydrogen production

In order to study catalysts to obtain hydrogen by steam reforming of glycerol, nickel catalysts supported on commercial α-Al2O3 and α-Al2O3 modified by addition of ZrO2 and CeO2 were prepared and characterized. Results show the support effect on stability of catalysts in this reaction carried out at atmospheric pressure and in the range 450–600 °C. The most stable system resulted to be Ni/CeO2/α-Al2O3. Results can be explained due to the Ce effect in inhibition of secondary dehydration reactions forming unsaturated hydrocarbons that are coke precursors generating fast catalyst deactivation.