A comparative research on the catalytic activity of La2O3 and γ-Al2O3 supported catalysts for acetic acid steam reforming

A comparative research on the catalytic activity of La2O3 and γ-Al2O3 supported Ni and Co catalysts was conducted for hydrogen production via acetic acid steam reforming. Supported on the special La2O3, Ni and Co showed higher H2 and CO2 selectivities due to the basicity and CO2 absorption characteristics compared with that on γ-Al2O3. Moreover, Ni catalysts performed better than Co by largely suppressing CH4 formation. Ni/La2O3 presented the best activity towards hydrogen production by totally converting acetic acid with a hydrogen yield of 80.9% at 700 °C. And it was found that S/C = 2.5 was essential for sufficient hydrogen yield. The high performance of Ni/La at S/C = 2.5 and T = 700 °C was stably maintained for 38 h. In addition, the decrease in activity was kept less than 10% and the final hydrogen yield was at about 73%.