Energy & Fuels, Vol.20, No.4, 1377-1381, 2006
Lower-temperature catalytic performance of bimetallic Ni-Re/Al2O3 catalyst for gasoline reforming to produce hydrogen with the inhibition of methane formation
The lower-temperature catalytic performance of bimetallic Ni-Re/Al2O3 catalyst for gasoline reforming to produce hydrogen with the inhibition of methane formation is studied. The complete conversion of gasoline with a very low methane concentration of near 0 in the product is achieved for steam reforming of gasoline on bimetallic Ni-Re/Al2O3 catalyst at a lower reaction temperature of 753 K. The high gasoline conversion of 100% with the low concentration of methane product is maintained very well during 700 h of time on stream for steam reforming of the gasoline fuel containing about 3.8 ppm sulfur at the lower reaction temperature. The low concentration of methane in the reforming product is effectively suppressed further by the addition of oxygen to the reaction system. Therefore, hydrogen generation from gasoline is feasible even at lower temperatures because of the unique high activity of the bimetallic Ni-Re/Al2O3 catalyst. Hydrogen production is enhanced by the inhibition of methane formation on the catalyst.