ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Hydrogen production by steam reforming of glycerol over Ni/Ce/Cu hydroxyapatite-supported catalysts

Lukman Hakim, Zahira Yaakob, Manal Ismail, Wan Ramli Wan Daud, and Ratna Sari

Fuel Cell Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

E-mail: lukman_hakim89@yahoo.com

Abstract: Hydroxyapatite-supported Ni-Ce-Cu catalysts were synthesised and tested to study their potential for use in the steam reforming of glycerol to produce hydrogen. The catalysts were prepared by the deposition-precipitation method with variable nickel, cerium, and copper loadings. The performance of the catalysts was evaluated in terms of hydrogen yield at 600°C in a tubular fixed-bed microreactor. All catalysts were characterised by the BET surface area, XRD, TPR, TEM, and FE-SEM techniques. The reaction time was 240 min in a fixed-bed reactor at 600°C and atmospheric pressure with a water-to-glycerol feed molar ratio of 8: 1. It was found that the Ni-Ce-Cu (3 mass %-7.5 mass %-7.5 mass %) hydroxyapatite-supported catalyst afforded the highest hydrogen yield (57.5 %), with a glycerol conversion rate of 97.3 %. The results indicate that Ni/Ce/Cu/hydroxyapatite has great potential as a catalyst for hydrogen production by steam reforming of glycerol.

Keywords: hydroxyapatite – glycerol – steam reforming – catalyst – deposition-precipitation – hydrogen

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-013-0368-y

Chemical Papers 67 (7) 703–712 (2013)