High purity hydrogen from catalytic partial dehydrogenation of kerosene using saccharide-templated mesoporous alumina supported Pt–Sn

Hydrogen is an element of high economic interest, having significant perspectives for future use in applications as an energy vector. Nowadays H2 is produced mainly from hydrocarbons in large scale steam reforming plants. However, local integrated generation of hydrogen to directly feed PEM fuel cells is emerging as a promising technology, with the advantages of being adaptable to the transport sector and avoiding the problems associated with the storage of gaseous hydrogen. Partial dehydrogenation of transport fuels is attracting increasing interest in this context. Partial dehydrogenation of jet fuel requires the development of specific catalysts, amongst which Pt–Sn supported on a high surface γ-Al2O3, shows good activity and selectivity, leading to production of high purity hydrogen. A strong influence of the textural properties of the support and the chloride content on the hydrogen productivity is observed.

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► PtSn supported over alumina is active on partial dehydrogenation of kerosene.
► Novel porous γ-Al2O3 support improves activity when compared with commercial alumina.
► High purity hydrogen, >98 vol.%, is produced using this catalytic system and 450 °C, 10 bar and τ = 2 s.
► Hydrogen productivity and catalyst stability depend on support preparation conditions and characteristics.