The effect of space time on Co/CeO2 catalyst deactivation during oxidative steam reforming of ethanol

This paper studies the effect of space time on the deactivation of a Co/CeO2 catalyst during oxidative steam reforming of ethanol. Increasing space time increased the ethanol conversion and hydrogen selectivity whereas acetaldehyde formation decreased. Both thermogravimetric and scanning electron microscopy analyses of post-reaction samples indicate that higher space times favor the deposition of filamentous carbon. However, the amount of carbon formed passes through a maximum and then decreases at high space time. Higher space times appear to allow the support, based on its oxygen mobility property, enough contact time to supply O needed to clean the carbon.