Hydrogen production from oxidative steam reforming of ethanol over Ir/CeO2 catalysts in a micro-channel reactor

•Ethanol reforming over Ir/CeO2 catalyst in a micro-reactor was investigated.•Catalytic performance in a micro-reactor was higher compared to a fixed-bed reactor.•The homogeneous Ir/CeO2 layer led to a remarkable stability during 60 h test.

Oxidative steam reforming of ethanol was investigated over a supported Ir/CeO2 catalyst in a micro-channel structured reactor. The catalyst coating was successfully deposited on the channel and showed a remarkably high homogeneity and an excellent adherence to the stainless steel platelets leading to stable performance during long time runs. Both the activity and hydrogen selectivity in the micro-structured reactor was found higher than in a conventional fixed-bed reactor due to the rapid mass and heat transfer hence being extremely promising for hydrogen production in micro fuel cell application.