A new approach for high-yield hydrogen production: Atmospheric pressure vapour-phase catalytic reforming of biomass hydrolysate

Aqueous-phase reforming (APR) and atmospheric pressure vapour-phase reforming (AVPR) of biomass hydrolysate were performed in a continuous flow fixed-bed reactor using Raney-Ni, supported Ru, Pd and Pt catalysts for high-yield hydrogen production. Sorghum biomass hydrolysate and glycerol were used as feeds. It was observed that AVPR process was considerably more effective than APR process for high-yield hydrogen production. The hydrogen yield was highest when Raney-Ni catalyst was used in AVPR of sorghum hydrolysate. Increasing the operating temperature from 230 to 270 degrees C in AVPR process led to 3.4 fold increase in hydrogen yield. The results showed that AVPR is more attractive than APR process for production of high-yield hydrogen with low amount of CO2 and CH4. No pressure application in AVPR is also a big advantage over APR for implementation the process in industry. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.