Hydrogen Production from Glycerol via Membrane Reactor Technology

Bio-diesel fuel, when converted from vegetables oils, produces around 10 wt% of glycerol as a byproduct, which could be used for producing hydrogen through steam reforming reaction. The state of the art in the scientific literature on hydrogen production via reforming reaction of glycerol in aqueous or gas phase is mainly devoted to the utilization of conventional reactors. Thus, as main highlights present in the open literature on this process, both high reaction pressure and a relatively small catalyst deactivation are noticed when steam reforming of glycerol is carried out in aqueous phase, whereas the catalyst deactivation is the main disadvantage in gas phase. In this chapter, glycerol steam reforming reaction to produce hydrogen is the main topic, paying special attention to the application of membrane reactor technology to this process. As a further scope, the chapter also describes the utilization of perm-selective Pd-based membrane reactors, pointing out the ability of these systems to both extract a high purity hydrogen stream and enhance the performances of the reaction system in terms of both glycerol conversion and hydrogen yield. Furthermore, the benefits and drawbacks of the membrane reactor systems are descript as a mature technology compared to the conventional reactors.