Investigation of steam reforming of acetic acid to hydrogen over Ni–Co metal catalyst

Catalytic generation of hydrogen by steam reforming of acetic acid over a series of Ni–Co catalysts have been studied. The catalyst with the molar ratio of 0.25:1 between Ni and Co was superior to other catalysts. The effects of reaction temperature, liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV) and molar ratios of steam-to-carbon (S/C) were studied in detail over this catalyst. At T = 673 K, LHSV = 5.1 h−1, S/C = 7.5:1, the catalyst exhibited the best performances. Acetic acid was converted completely to hydrogen, while H2 selectivity reached up to 96.3% and CO2 selectivity up to 98.1% was obtained, respectively. Ni–Co catalyst showed rather stable performances for the 70 h time-on-stream without any deactivation.

Graphical abstractAt 673 K, acetic acid was converted to hydrogen completely over Ni–Co catalyst via steam reforming. The selectivities to H2 and CO2 reached maximum values 96.3% and 98.1%, respectively, while the selectivity to CH4 maintained about 0.7%. Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide