Hydrogen Production via Catalytic Gasification of Etanol”

V. MÁS; P. GIUNTA,; G, BARONETTI; N. AMADEO,; M. LABORDE

Porto de Galinhas- PE - Brasil

Conferencia; 14 Congreso Brasileiro de Catalise.; 2007

Sociedad Brasileña de Catálisis

The clean and non-contaminating characteristics of H2 as a fuel will depend on the process, the raw material and the source of energy employed for its production. If it is obtained from fossil hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide is released to the atmosphere, regardless of the technology used; instead, if biomass is used instead of hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide is also released, but in this case the plant consumes the carbon dioxide produced during its growth. Ethanol presents several advantages related to natural availability, storage and handling safety. It can be produced renewably from several biomass sources, including energy plants, waste materials from agro industries or forestry residue materials, organic fraction of municipal solid waste, etc. Besides the bioethanol-to-hydrogen system has the significant advantage of being nearly CO2 neutral, since the carbon dioxide produced is consumed for biomass growth, thus offering a nearly closed carbon cycle. In summary, among the various processes and primary fuels that have been proposed in the production of hydrogen for fuel cell applications, steam reforming of ethanol is the most attractive.