The kinetic and experimental study for the syngas production from ethanol dry reforming over a Ni-Cu/La2O3 catalyst

The mechanistic kinetic model through Langmuir-Hinshelwood (LH) isotherm was derived for ethanol dry reforming (EDR) processaccompanied by the ethanol decomposition (ED) and methane dry reforming (MDR). For justifying mechanistic relation, EDR tests wereaccomplished under a vast range of operating variables (including temperature varied from 500 degrees C to 900 degrees C and ratio of CO2 to C2H5OH in the inlet feed [C/E ratio] of 1-3) over a Ni-Cu/La2O3 catalyst. The physicochemical properties of the fresh and spent catalysts were investigated via inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), X-ray diffractometer (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), temperature programmed reduction (TPR), and N-2 adsorption/desorption tests. The ethanol conversion near to 100% was obtained at 850 degrees C and a C/E ratio of 1, and no obvious deactivation was observed up to 800 min initial on stream. The estimation procedure of kinetic parameters was conducted via nonlinear least square regression to correlate between rate and equilibrium constants in terms of temperature via Arrhenius and van't Hoff equations, respectively. The error of the kinetic model was measured as 11.92% and predicted ethanol conversion with higher precision than other responses. The ethanol conversion and H-2 yield higher than 90% achieved beyond 800 degrees C regardless of the C/E ratio. A maximum point was located at 700 degrees C for CO2 conversion trend vs the temperature. An increase in the C/E ratio resulted in ethanol conversion and CO yield, while trends of the CO2 conversion and H-2 yield passed from a maximum point. H-2 yield 93.45% was obtained at 800 degrees C and a C/E ratio of 1.5 in presence of Ni-Cu/La2O3 catalyst, which was bigger than reported values by various scientists.