Performance comparison of mesoporous alumina supported Cu & Ni based catalysts in acetic acid reforming

Steam reforming of acetic acid (AcOH) was investigated over mesoporous alumina supported mono- and bi-metallic Ni and/or Cu based catalysts. Results obtained with mesoporous alumina supported catalysts were compared with another set of experiments performed using a commercial CuZn based HifuelR-120 catalyst and Ni impregnated HifuelR-120. Comparison of catalytic performances of Cu and Ni based catalysts showed that Cu activated the decomposition of AcOH giving mainly CH4 and CO2, while Ni was highly active for steam reforming reaction, yielding quite high H2 selectivities, reaching to 70%. This H2 selectivity was quite close to the equilibrium limit. Very low CO selectivity observed with HifuelR-120 and low CO/CO2 ratios observed especially with the Cu based catalysts clearly indicated that CO was not an intermediate of AcOH reforming reaction, but formed mainly as a result of reverse water gas shift reaction. Ni containing catalysts were shown to have high activity also for the reverse water gas shift reaction. Comparison of the performances of mono-metallic Ni and bi-metallic NiCu containing MA catalysts showed that the performance of the bi-metallic catalyst was better, yielding less CH4. Although the activities of nickel containing catalysts were quite high in steam reforming of AcOH, they yield more coke as compared to Cu based materials.