Hydrogen production from supercritical water reforming of acetic acid, acetol, 1-butanol and glucose over Ni-based catalyst

Supercritical water reforming (SCWR) of four main constituents of bio-oil aqueous phase (acetic acid, acetol, 1-butanol and glucose) to produce hydrogen was studied in a tubular fixed-bed reactor using commercial Ni/Al2O3-SiO2 catalyst. The process was carried out under different operating conditions at 240 bar (500-800 degrees C, 5.0-22.5 wt.% of organic compounds and values of weight-hourly space velocity (WSHV) of 2.5-22.5 g(org.comp) h(-1) g(cat)(-1)). The data were reported as reaction rates, expressed as turnover frequencies (TOF), and the Arrhenius parameters (pre-exponential factor and apparent activation energy) were obtained. The process performance was compared to that without using any catalyst and that regarding equilibrium condition. Hydrogen yields were very close to those values predicted by equilibrium within the operating window tested in this study.