Hydrogen production by glycerol reforming in supercritical water over Ni/MgO-ZrO2 catalyst

Nano ZrO₂ and MgO-ZrO₂ were prepared by a self-assembly route and were employed as the support for Ni catalysts used in hydrogen production from glycerol reforming in supercritical water (SCW). The reforming experiments were conducted in a tubular fixed-bed flow reactor over a temperature range of 600–800 °C. The influences of process variables such as temperature, contact time, and water to glycerol ratio on hydrogen yield were investigated and the catalysts were charactered by ICP, BET, XRD and SEM. The results showed that high hydrogen yield was obtained from glycerol by reforming in supercritical water over the Ni/MgO-ZrO₂ catalysts in a short contact time. The MgO in the catalyst showed significant promotion effect for hydrogen production likely due to the formation of the alkaline active site. Even when the glycerol feed concentration was up to 45 wt%, glycerol was completely gasified and transfered to the gas products containing hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane along with small amounts of carbon monoxide. At a diluted feed concentration of 5 wt%, near theoretical yield of 7 mole of H₂/mol of glycerol could be obtained.