Addition of tungsten in Co/Al2O3 to catalyse the production of hydrogen through acetic acid steam reforming

Graphical Acetic acid is a main component of biomass pyrolysis oil. A high yield of hydrogen is obtained through steam reforming of acetic acid over a tungsten-modified Co/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. The interaction between the reactants and the catalyst surface is enhanced. Steam reforming of bio-oil is a promising green hydrogen production technology. Experimental and theoretical calculations have been carried out to study the performance of Co/Al 2 O 3 catalysts doped with tungsten (1–10 wt%) for bio-oil model compound acetic acid steam reforming. The maximum acetic acid conversion of 95.4 % and H 2 yield of 93.5 % were obtained over the 15Co-5W/Al 2 O 3 catalyst under the optimized reaction conditions of temperature=550 °C, steam to carbon ratio=5 and the gas hourly space velocity of 15,780 h −1 . The feeding capacity of the catalyst was improved by 2.3 times by the addition of 5 wt% W compared to that of the non-W-added Co/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. Catalyst characterizations by BET, XRD, H 2 -TPR, XPS, HRTEM, and SEM were performed. The results showed that high activities were maintained over 20 h on the 15Co-5W/Al 2 O 3 catalyst. A little filamentous coke was formed on the spent catalyst surface, and the agglomeration rate of active Co was relatively low. Density functional theory calculations confirmed that the adsorptions of CH 3 COOH and H 2 O on the catalyst were enhanced by the addition of W.