High performance nickel structured catalysts prepared using EDTA for hydrogen production

Bioethanol Steam Reforming is a sustainable and environmentally friendly way to produce hydrogen. The most promising catalysts for this reaction are deactivated by carbon deposition and sintering. It is well known that the synthesis method can affect the active phase dispersion and metal‒support interactions in catalysts. In this work, structured systems based on Ni/CeO2–MgAl2O4 were prepared by using ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, EDTA, for Ni incorporation. An EDTA‒free structured system was also prepared, for comparison. FeCrAlloy metal monoliths were used as support, as they provide efficient heat transfer due to their high thermal conductivity. The catalysts were evaluated in the ethanol steam reforming reaction at 650 °C. The Ni precursor influences the properties and catalytic performance of the systems. The systems prepared from [Ni(EDTA)]2- complex showed good reaction performance during 25 h (5.3 and 5.7 mol H2/mol C2H5OH for systems containing 1 and 5 wt% of Ni). The EDTA‒free system showed low activity. The best performing system was subjected to a regeneration process and evaluated in a second reaction cycle, showing good performance. Finally, the best structured system was compared with a powder catalyst. The results reflect that the performance of the monolithic reactor is significantly higher than the packed bed reactor.