Autothermal reforming and water–gas shift double bed reactor for H2 production from ethanol

The present work reports the improvement in the H2 production from the autothermal reforming of ethanol (ATR) through the addition of a second water–gas shift (WGS) catalytic bed in the same reactor. Thus, three Ni catalysts (ca. 10, 15 and 20%, w/w) supported on Yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) were synthesized for the ATR process and characterized by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AA), temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption/desorption. A commercial water–gas shift (WGS) Fe–Cr catalyst was employed for the double bed reactor configuration. The synthesized Ni based catalysts presented almost complete conversion of ethanol at low temperatures (below 400 °C) compatible with the WGS process. The addition of a second WGS bed in the same reactor, which works with an additional amount of water, led to a higher production of H2 and to an important removal of the CO coming from the ATR process. Therefore, the proposed compact reactor configuration shows potential for the simultaneous production and purification of H2 from ethanol.