Glycerol-Reforming Kinetics Using a Pt/C Catalyst

Catalytic steam reforming of glycerol, a by-product in biodiesel production, represents an attractive route to hydrogen. For the first time, the kinetics of the glycerol steam reforming reaction over a Pt/C catalyst was considered. Kinetic data, i.e., glycerol conversion vs. space time, were obtained experimentally by using a fixed-bed reactor and were analyzed by the integral method of analysis. It was found that in the studied ranges of temperature from 623 to 673 K and space time from 0.39 to 1.56 g h/mol the investigated reaction is of the first-order with respect to glycerol. The specific reaction rate constant at 673 K was determined to be 1.1.10(5) cm(3)/g(cat) h. The values of glycerol conversion predicted by the first-order kinetic model were in good agreement with those obtained experimentally. The increase in temperature, space time, and initial water/glycerol ratio caused the expected increase in hydrogen yield.