Hydrogen Production by Low-temperature Steam Reforming of Bio-oil over Ni/HZSM-5 Catalyst

We investigated high catalytic activity of Ni/HZSM-5 catalysts synthesized by the impregna-tion method, which was successfully applied for low-temperature steam reforming of bio-oil. The influences of the catalyst composition, reforming temperature and the molar ratio of steam to carbon fed on the stream reforming process of bio-oil over the Ni/HZSM-5 catalysts were investigated in the reforming reactor. The promoting effects of current passing through the catalyst on the bio-oil reforming were also studied using the electrochemical catalytic re-forming approach. By comparing Ni/HZSM-5 with commonly used Ni/Al₂O₃ catalysts, the Ni₂₀/ZSM catalyst with Ni-loading content of about 20% on the HZSM-5 support showed the highest catalytic activity. Even at 450 oC, the hydrogen yield of about 90% with a near complete conversion of bio-oil was obtained using the Ni₂₀/ZSM catalyst. It was found that the performance of the bio-oil reforming was remarkably enhanced by the HZSM-5 supporter and the current through the catalyst. The features of the Ni/HZSM-5 catalysts were also investigated via X-ray diffraction, inductively coupled plasma and atomic emission spectroscopy, hydrogen temperature-programmed reduction, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller methods.