Effect of Reaction Temperature and Steam to Carbon Ratio on Hydrogen Production for Steam Reforming of Bio-Ethanol Using the Palladium Membrane Reactor

摘要

The steam reforming of bio-ethanol has been carried out to compare with reagent ethanol using a palladium membrane at several reaction conditions (673 or 873 K, △P=0.10MPa and steam-to-carbon ratio (S/C) = 4-10). The raw material of these experiments was surplus bio-ethanol, which is one of the by-products in fermentation with sulfuring process in cornstarch production. As a result, the amount of total H2 formation for bio-ethanol was comparable to that obtained with reagent ethanol under the same conditions. However, for bio-ethanol, the values of hydrogen permeate flow and hydrogen purity were smaller than that of reagent ethanol. In contrast, the amount of CO formed from bio-ethanol was greater than that from reagent ethanol. It is considered that carbon, which has a negative influence on the hydrogen-permeability of the palladium membrane, was produced from CO. The amount of CO was significantly decreased by lowering the temperature from 873 to 673 K. Moreover, CO was also decreased by increasing S/C and was not detected over S/C of 8. However, the amount of total hydrogen production and hydrogen permeate flow decreased by increasing the S/C ratio. Therefore, the best condition for hydrogen production from bio-ethanol using the palladium membrane reactor was at 673 K and S/C = 8.