Acetic acid-phenol steam reforming for hydrogen production: Effect of different composition of La₂O₃-Al₂O₃ support for bimetallic Ni-Co catalyst

Hydrogen production from a mixture of side products of pyrolysis oil through the catalytic steam reforming was carried out. Acetic acid and phenol were considered as side products in the bio-oil derived from the pyrolysis of biomass. The performance of bimetallic Nickel-Cobalt (Ni-Co) catalyst supported on different ratios of Lanthanum (III) Oxide (La₂O₃) and gamma-aluminum oxide (γ-Al₂O₃) was evaluated. The catalytic properties of the prepared catalysts were characterized for the total acidity, basicity, catalyst total surface area, crystallinity and the reducibility of active metal. The results of the characterization shows that presence of γ-Al₂O₃ as a support decreased the reducibility, acidic and basic site of the catalyst but increased its performance due to high surface area. By increasing the γ-Al₂O₃ metal oxide content in the catalyst, the coke deposits are increased because of the weak interaction of metal-support of high γ-Al₂O₃ contents catalysts. Catalyst dilution was found to increase the performance of the steam reforming reaction by changing the catalyst bed height. The results show that the ∼100% conversion for acetic acid and 95.7% for phenol at 800 °C over the undiluted catalyst while 97% of phenol conversion was achieved while SiC dilution applied.