Activity and Stability of Novel Silica-Based Catalysts for Hydrogen Production via Oxidative Steam Reforming of Ethanol

The development of catalysts resistant to deactivation, especially to coke formation, is a key issue to perform ethanol reforming successfully. Aiming at carbon formation minimization, in the present work, bimetallic Pt-Ni/CeO2 catalysts were deposited on silica gel with high surface area and tested for ethanol reforming in the low temperature range (300 - 600 °C). The activity was investigated at different contact times and the impact of oxygen co-feeding on catalyst performances was also studied. The increase of space velocity had no effect on ethanol conversion at T > 420 °C under both oxidative and non-oxidative conditions; however, when O2 was co-fed, contact time growth assured almost total conversion until 300 °C. Moreover, the results of stability tests revealed that O2 addition in the reforming mixture improved catalyst stability, which was maintained for 70 h.