Glycerol steam reforming for hydrogen production over Rh/CeO2-Al2O3 catalysts

The glycerol steam reforming (GSR) reaction for hydrogen production was investigated over Rh-based catalysts supported on ?-Al2O3 modified with CeO2. High specific surface area mesoporous supports (Al2O3, CeO2-Al2O3) were synthesized by the surfactant-assisted co-precipitation method using cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as template. Then, highly dispersed Rh-based catalysts were prepared by the wetness impregnation technique. The physico-chemical properties of the as-prepared supports and catalysts were investigated by N2-physisorption, XRD, CO-chemisorption, TEM, H2-TPR, CO2-TPD and NH3-TPD measurements. Performance test experiments were carried out in a fixed bed reactor at water-to-glycerol feed ratio (WGFR) of 20:1 (molar), temperatures from 400 °C to 750 °C, weight hourly space velocity of 50,000 mlog-1oh-1 and atmospheric pressure. The stability of the catalysts was also investigated through 12h time-on-stream experiments at 600 oC using a WGFR of 9:1.