Effects of Current upon Electrochemical Catalytic Reforming of Anisole

The reforming of anisole (as model compound of bio-oil) was performed over the NiCuZn-Al₂O₃ catalyst, using a recently-developed electrochemical catalytic reforming (ECR). The influence of the current on the anisole reforming in the ECR process has been investigated. It was observed that anisole reforming was significantly enhanced by the current approached over the catalyst in the electrochemical catalytic process, which was due to the non-uniform temperature distribution in the catalytic bed and the role of the thermal electrons orig-inating from the electrified wire. The maximum hydrogen yield of 88.7% with a carbon conversion of 98.3% was obtained through the ECR reforming of anisole at 700 oC and 4 A. X-ray diffraction was employed to characterize catalyst features and their alterations in the anisole reforming. The apparent activation energy for the anisole reforming is calculated as 99.54 kJ/mol, which is higher than ethanol, acetic acid, and light fraction of bio-oil. It should owe to different physical and chemical properties and reforming mechanism for different hydrocarbons.