Single-step Sorption Enhanced Ethanol Steam Reforming: Modeling and Validation

MARTINEZ GONZALEZ, J.M.; DIUZEIDE, M.L.; FRANCESCONI, JAVIER A.; NORMA E. AMADEO

Simposio; HYdrogen POwer THeoretical & Engineering Solutions International Symposium; 2021

In the last decade, hydrogen has gained mportance as an environmentally sustainable alternative to produce energy.Among its many applications, the generation of electricity through fuel cells,particularly PEM cells, represents a promising technology. The production ofhydrogen via the steam reforming of ethanol derived from biomass is asustainable process. This reaction has been extensively studied, and a Ni-basedcatalyst obtained from Ni(II)-Mg(II)-Al(III) lamellar double hydroxides (LDHs)has proven to exhibit high activity, long term stability and selectivity tohydrogen production[1]. Despite the apparent simplicity of the global reaction,the ethanol steam reforming (ESR) involves a complex system of reactions thataffect hydrogen selectivity. Removing CO2 by sorption reaction might be analternative to simplify the purification process [2]. The proposal is toreplace the reformer by a single-step process that integrates the reformingreaction and the selective sorption of CO2; which is known as sorption enhancedethanol steam reforming. This process has been studied in laboratory scale withthe mentioned Ni catalysts and CaO as sorbent; it was proved that the highestH2 purity was achieved with a well-mixed configuration. Additionally, in acyclic process, it was possible to obtain a product of stationary composition:high H2 purity (92.0%) with a CO purity of 1.65% on wet basis, lower than thatobtained in WGS reactor [3].