Ethanol Steam Reforming in a Microchannel Reactor

The reaction between ethanol and water was studied in the temperature range of 400–600°C at atmospheric pressure over supported catalysts in a microchannel reactor. The supported catalysts prepared by washcoating and impregnation were active in the ethanol steam reforming but differ in their performance. The metal nature, metal loading and type of the carriers markedly influence the catalytic activity and selectivity of the catalysts. Among them Rh-based catalysts exhibited the highest catalytic activity, as compared to Co and Ni-based catalysts. Bimetallic Rh-Ni catalysts exhibit significant improvement in terms of ethanol conversion and hydrogen selectivity and the promoting role of the Ni and CeO2 addition is discussed. The bimetallic Rh-Ni catalyst promoted by CeO2 was stable for at least 100 h without any detectable degradation in performance.