Hydrogen Production via Glycerol Reforming over Pt/SiO2 Nanocatalyst in a Spiral-Shaped Microchannel Reactor

Abstract

Abstract Platinum supported silica nanocatalyst was synthesized for hydrogen production by steam reforming of glycerol (SRG). The catalyst was prepared by the sol-gel method and characterized using BET, SEM, and XRD techniques. The performance of the catalyst was evaluated in terms of glycerol conversion, hydrogen yield and exit gas selectivity in reaction temperature range 300–400 °C in a plate-type microchannel reactor at atmospheric pressure. According to the experimental results, Pt/SiO2 nanocatalyst was successfully synthesized by sol-gel method. The optimum conditions were obtained with inlet feed flow rate of 3 mL/h and temperature of 400 °C, leading to a low CO selectivity and high H2 yield. The results showed that the Pt nanocatalyst supported on SiO2 had a good performance on the gaseous products and yield of H2.