Optimization of hydrogen production from steam reforming of biomass tar over Ni/dolomite/La2O3 catalysts

Industrially, the endothermic process of steam reforming is carried out at the lowest temperature, steam to carbon (S/C) ratio, and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) for maximum hydrogen (H-2) production. In this study, a three-level three factorial Box-Behnken Design (BBD) of Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the optimization of H-2 production from steam reforming of gasified biomass tar over Ni/dolomite/La2O3 (NiDLa) catalysts. Consequently, reduced quadratic regression models were developed to fit the experimental data adequately. The effects of the independent variables (temperature, S/C ratio, and GHSV) on the responses (carbon conversion to gas and H-2 yield) were examined. The results indicated that reaction temperature was the most significant factor affecting both responses. Ultimately, the optimum conditions predicted by RSM were 775 degrees C, S/C molar ratio of 1.02, and GHSV of 14,648 h(-1), resulting in 99 mol% of carbon conversion to gas and 82 mol% of H-2 yield. (C) 2020 Energy Institute. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.