Thermodynamic analysis of steam reforming of ethanol for hydrogen generation

Abstract

SUMMARYThermodynamic equilibrium of ethanol steam reforming has been studied by Gibbs free energy minimization method for hydrogen production in the ranges of water-to-ethanol ratio from 0 to 20, reaction temperature from 400 to 2000 K, pressure from 1 to 60 atm, argon-to-ethanol ratio from 0 to 100. The optimal conditions suitable for the use in molten carbonate fuel cell and solid oxide fuel cell were obtained as follows: 900-1200 K, water-to-ethanol ratio of 3:6, and 1 atm. Under the optimal conditions, complete conversion of ethanol, 60.52-83.58% yield of hydrogen and 32.82-79.60% yield of carbon monoxide could be obtained and no coke forms. Higher pressures have a negative effect, but inert gases have a positive effect, on the hydrogen yield. Coke tends to form at lower temperatures and lower waterto-ethanol ratios.

Hydrogen via steam reforming of liquid biofeedstock

“…In contrast to Vagia and Lemonidou, Aktaş et al [85] reported a higher hydrogen mole fraction even at pressure as high as 30 atm in SR of model bio-oil components like isopropyl alcohol, lactic acid and phenols. These results are in contradiction to most of the authors in SR of various liquid fuels like ethanol, glycerol and butanol [16,43,63]. The authors reported the best operating conditions a steam-to-fuel ratio of 4, 5 and 9 at 15 1200 K for isopropyl alcohol, lactic acid and phenols respectively.…”

“…Wang and Wang [16] calculated a 60.52-83.58% hydrogen yield (EQ-5) with 32.82-79.60% carbon monoxide yield at steam to S/EtOH between 3-6 at 900-1200 K in thermodynamic analysis of SRE. The authors reported that, as expected from Le Chatelier's principle, increase in pressure restrained hydrogen formation as a result of shift in the equilibrium to reactants in the SR reactions.…”

Production of Hydrogen by Steam Reforming of Bio-Ethanol Over Nickel-Copper Bimetallic Catalysts

“…Equilibrium compositions were calculated by minimizing the Gibbs free energy with software CHEMCAD (Wang and Wang 2008). The errors of the calculated results were lower than 0.5 · 10 -8 .…”

Microkinetic modeling and analysis of ethanol partial oxidation and reforming reaction pathways on platinum at short contact times

“…Thermodynamic analysis for ethanol reforming has been carried out to understand the effect of operating conditions on product selectivities and yields [41][42][43]. A number of studies have focused on developing Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson (LHHW) or Eley-Rideal rate expressions followed by data fitting of the kinetic parameters [44][45][46][47].…”