Efficient bimetallic catalysts for hydrogen generation from diesel fuel

Fuel cell requires hydrogen as its fuel source for generating power. Hydrogen for use in auxiliary power units is produced in a fuel processor by the catalytic reforming of hydrocarbons. Diesel, jet fuel, gasoline, as well as natural gas, are potential fuels that all have existing infrastructure of manufacture and distribution, for hydrogen production for fuel cell applications. It is well known that essentially all hydrocarbon feeds contain sulfur at different concentrations. In addition to coking, sulfur poisoning is the main force for deactivation of pre-reforming and reforming catalysts. The objective of this paper is to develop, test and characterize efficient catalysts for hydrogen generation from diesel autothermal reforming. Bimetallic catalysts exhibited superior performance compared to the commercial catalyst and the monometallic counterparts. BET, TPD, TPR, and XPS were utilized for surface analysis of these formulations, which showed that the enhanced stability is due to a strong metal-metal and metal-support interaction in the catalyst.