The effect of copper on the properties of nickel-based catalysts in ethanol steam reforming

LEONARDO A. SILVA; ANDRÉ ROSA MARTINS; VIVIAN V. THYSSEN; ELISABETE M. ASSAF; ADRIANA D. BALLARINI; MARIA DO CARMO RANGEL

Rio de Janeiro ? RJ

Congreso; 3º Congresso Internacional de Catálise para Biorrefinarias (CatBior); 2015

Currently, hydrogen is mainly obtained from fossil sources. However, due to the increasing concern related to environment protection, the use of renewable sources is much needed. Among them, ethanol derived from sugarcane emerges as one of the most promising alternative source, due to the high yield of hydrogen, low toxicity of ethanol and low carbon monoxide emission. Moreover, carbon dioxide released in the environment, during hydrogen production, is compensated by its consumption during the sugarcane photosynthesis. The steam reforming of ethanol is by far the most used route for obtaining hydrogen from renewable sources. Several metals are able to catalyze this reaction but most of the studies has been addressed to nickel, because of its low price as compared to noble metals. However, nickel also catalyzes coke formation and then alkaline compounds such as magnesia have been frequently added to the catalysts, since they are able to promote coke gasification. Meanwhile, these compounds usually make nickel reduction difficult, decreasing the activity and selectivity of the catalysts. Because of this, several metals such noble metals, copper and others have been added to the catalysts in order to favor nickel reduction.Aiming to obtain improved nickel-based catalysts to produce hydrogen by ethanol steam reforming, the effect of copper on the properties of alumina and magnesia- supported nickel was studied in this work.