Parametric study and kinetic testing for ethanol steam reforming

An experimental kinetic investigation has been carried out for ethanol steam reforming (ESR). The selected catalyst was a K-promoted Ni/ZrO2 sample prepared by flame pyrolysis, which revealed particularly active and stable for this application based on previous investigation. Ethanol conversion, selectivity to the main possible byproducts (methane, ethylene and acetaldehyde), hydrogen productivity and the CO/CO2 ratio, as a measure of the contribution of the water gas shift reaction, were correlated to the temperature, water/ethanol ratio and space velocity in a central composite experimental design. The parametric dependence of the reaction outcomes helped the qualitative assessment of the best operating conditions and suggested hypotheses on the reaction mechanism. A more quantitative parametric analysis was carried out by multivariate analysis.