Hydrogen production by glycerol dry reforming over rhenium promoted Ni-based catalyst supported on Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15)

This paper presents the glycerol dry reforming (GDR) reaction using rhenium (Re) promoted on Ni-based catalyst supported on Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) for the production of hydrogen. In this study, the non-promoted (15%Ni/SBA-15) and promoted (3%Re-15%Ni/SBA-15) catalysts were first synthesized using wet impregnation method and their physicochemical characteristics were analyzed with Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses. Their performances were evaluated in GDR reaction and it was found that 3%Re-15%Ni/SBA-15 exhibited higher glycerol conversion (57%) and hydrogen yield (55%) than 15%Ni/SBA-15 (i.e., 20% glycerol conversion and 18% hydrogen yield). From the GDR study, the highest glycerol conversion (57%) and hydrogen yield (55%) for 3%Re-15%Ni/SBA-15 were obtained at 0.2 g catalyst, 700 degrees C of reaction temperature, and CO2 to glycerol ratio (CGR) of 1:1. The small crystallite size and BET surface area of 3%Re-15%Ni/SBA-15 had successfully reduced the carbon deposition and indirectly contributed to high glycerol conversion and product yield.

Automated summary

This study presents the glycerol dry reforming (GDR) reaction using rhenium (Re) promoted on Ni-based catalyst supported on Santa Barbara Amorphous 15 (SBA-15) for the production of hydrogen. It was found that the addition of 3%Re to 15%Ni/SBA-15 catalyst significantly improved the glycerol conversion and hydrogen yield due to the small crystallite size and BET surface area, which effectively reduced carbon deposition.