Glycerol Steam Reforming in a Pilot Plant: Effect of Temperature and Catalyst Load

One of the main environmental problems is the use of oil for fuel and plastic production, implying the increase in pollutants that might contribute to the greenhouse gas effect, among others. Thus, the use of vegetable oils to produce biodiesel can be interesting, as it is biodegradable and less pollutant compared to diesel fuels, presenting higher flash and combustion points. Moreover, biodiesel production could take part in a biorefinery concept, to produce products such as biolubricants and obtain interesting byproducts that can be reused (such as methanol) or upgraded for energy or pharmaceutical purposes (like glycerol). Consequently, the valorization of these byproducts could contribute to the higher energy efficiency of the process, improving the atom economy. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of the temperature and the amount of catalyst on glycerol steam reforming to produce hydrogen at a semi-industrial level, regarding some aspects like gas production, hydrogen mole ratio and power, using a Ni-based catalyst. In conclusion, the best results found in this experiment, allowing a plant to work continuously for 9 h, were obtained with the following conditions: S/C ratio: 0.7; inlet flow: 40 mL/min; temperature: 850 °C; La2O3 and NiO percentage: 5 and 12%, respectively.