Steam reforming of ethanol over nickel-tungsten catalyst

Ni-W/Al2O3 catalysts were synthesized, characterized and tested for the steam reforming of ethanol from 300 to 600 °C. Addition of Ni and W on the alumina, decreased the surface area and increased the pore volume of the mesoporous materials synthesized. The reaction products obtained were: H2, CO2, C2H4, CH4, CO2, CO and CH3CHO. A promoting effect of Ni-W was observed in the conversion of ethanol to H2 from 15 to 30 wt.% Ni and 1 wt.% W. The selectivity to H2 on the alumina with Ni-W, was between 66.53 and 68.53% at 550 °C, appearing some undesirable products, with low ratio of CO/CO2. Reaction was studied on a fixed bed reactor at atmospheric pressure with an ethanol/water molar ratio of 1:4, from 300 to 600 °C. The catalysts were characterized by the thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA)-Differential thermal analysis (DTA), N2 physisorption (BET and BJH methods), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), these techniques were used for characterization, before and after of the steam reforming.