Hydrogen from oxygenated solvents by steam reforming on Ni/Al2O3 catalyst

Industrial wastes from the semiconductor industry comprise solvent mixtures of organic oxygenated compounds. Steam reforming of three alcohols and three oxygenated molecules (aldehydes and ketones), normally used in the electronics industry, was carried out at 1073 K by using a Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. Hydroxyl and carbonyl groups show highly different reactivities and coke formation from molecules containing a hydroxyl group is higher than for those with a carbonyl group. Thermodynamic considerations on the basis of the outlet compositions have allowed calculation of the mass action ratio (MAR) for the main equilibria involved: (i) methane steam reforming (MSR); (ii) water–gas shift reaction (WGSR); (iii) methane pyrolysis (PYR); and (iv) Boudouard reaction (BOUD). We suggest that MAR-MSR is lower than equilibrium value and excess of methane is always present in the reaction atmosphere.