Hydrogen production from glycerol steam reforming over nickel catalysts supported on alumina and niobia: Deactivation process, effect of reaction conditions and kinetic modeling

Ni catalysts were prepared by wet impregnation of three different supports: alumina, niobia and 10 wt.% niobia/alumina, prepared by (co)precipitation. The catalysts were evaluated on steam reforming of glycerol at 500 °C, for 30 h. The catalyst supported on Nb2O5/Al2O3 presented the best performance, with higher conversion into gas (80%) during all reaction time and hydrogen yield of 50%. Alumina supported catalyst showed higher deactivation and lower hydrogen yield. All catalysts showed coke formation, but it was formed in larger amount on the catalysts supported on single oxides. A depth study was conducted to evaluate the effect of reaction variables as space velocity, glycerol concentration in feed and temperature on the catalytic performance of the Nb2O5/Al2O3 catalyst. Kinetic study was also performed for this catalyst using two different approaches, obtaining glycerol and steam orders, as well as the apparent activation energy.