Preparation and examination of nickel/cerium dioxide catalyst for ethanol reforming reaction in hydrogen production

Many factors have contributed to a renewed interest in ethanol-based transportation fuels: all-time low price of corn and Fuel additive requirements set by the Clean Air Act (CAA).;In this present work, the catalytic steam reforming of ethanol with ceria/metal (CeO2/M) was investigated using a micro-reactor and at three different temperatures. A reasonable activity in conversion of hydrocarbon to hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide with only small amounts of carbon deposition has been shown. From the catalytic steam reforming of ethanol using ceria, hydrogen can be produced continuously without any requirement of oxidants due to the oxygen storage capacity of CeO2. The oxygen atom from ethanol can oxidize the reduced state of ceria, CeO-x, from the reforming reaction and recover the oxidized state of ceria, CeO2. The catalytic reforming reactivity of CeO remains too low due to its low specific surface area. In this study, the catalyst was reduced by H2 each time before starting the experiment. Therefore, a very obvious decrease in reactivity was not seen.;This thesis is divided into two sections; first section being a literature survey where the history of fuel cells, current status of hydrogen production and ceria characterizations, the second section being the experimental work.