Development of Ni and Nb catalysts for production of hydrogen from bio-oil

Abstract

The development of hydrogen generation technologies has been growing in recent years in response to heightening concerns about the environmental impact of energy use and worries about the security of fossil-fuel supplies. In addition, the hydrogen can be obtained from renewable raw materials. Standing out among these technologies is the steam reforming of bio-oil from the pyrolysis of biomass. Bio-oil is a complex mixture of many different organic compounds. These compounds include carboxylic acids, ketones, esters, sugars, phenols, guaiacols, aldehydes, and alcohols along with other multifunctional compounds. This complicated composition led to the steam reforming of crude bio-oil or its fraction often facing severe catalyst deactivation Therefore, it is necessary to study the individual reforming behavior of the different chemical families in bio-oil. Acetic acid and acetol are one of the major components and are usually investigated with various supported metal catalysts as the model compound of bio-oil. Within this context, the aim of this project is the development of catalysts based on nickel (Ni) and niobium (Nb) supported on alumina for application in steam reforming of model compounds (acetic acid and acetol) and bio-oil, in order to minimize the formation of carbonaceous deposits, as well as increase the activity and selectivity for hydrogen. For the structural and morphologic study, the materials obtained will be characterized by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), specific surface area (BET) and temperature programmed reduction (TPR-H2). The catalytic reactions will be monitored in situ by infrared spectroscopy and XAS. This will allow to study the structure of the catalyst and to elucidate the possible reaction mechanisms. These tests will be conducted in partnership with the Institute of Physics of São Carlos - USP and National Institute of Technology located in Rio de Janeiro.