Performance of sulfur tolerant reforming catalysts for production of hydrogen from jet fuel simulants

The development of robust desulfurizers and new reforming catalysts is a critical path for the use of jet fuels in powering the commercial growth of fuel cell systems for air and military applications. The presence of high concentrations of sulfur-containing organic compounds leads to rapid deactivation of traditional reforming catalysts, and removal of the sulfur components from the fuel through adsorptive methods is not practical for long term operations. The current work describes the use of several ceria-based catalyst compositions that were studied to assess their performance based on the formation of hydrogen and product yield from a fuel consisting of toluene and thiophene. The effect of noble metals, metal oxide additives, and stabilized ceria supports on the performance of the catalyst was studied. The addition of selected components led to higher yields or greater stability; combinations of these additives were not necessarily synergistic. Interestingly, the presence of sulfur in the fuel was shown to enhance the initial activity of catalysts containing rhodium. Analysis in terms of the kinetic rates of reaction and deactivation illustrated the effects of these additives and provided insight into the design of a more highly stable steam reforming catalyst for production of hydrogen from jet fuel.