Glycerol steam reforming over calcium deficient hydroxyapatite supported nickel catalysts

Abstract

This paper presents reports on the glycerol steam reforming reaction. The studies were performed over four nickel catalysts with different metal loading (up to 10 wt%) supported on calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (DHAp). The support was synthetized by the microwave assisted hydrothermal method. The steam reforming reaction was performed under atmospheric pressure in the 650–800 °C temperature range using 10 mg of catalyst sample and a glycerol/water mixture with S/C = 3. All catalysts were well characterized by physicochemical methods (XRD, XRF, TPR, HRTEM). The catalytic tests results were presented by means of glycerol conversion, hydrogen and carbon containing gases selectivity. The most promising results were obtained for catalyst with moderate Ni content (~7.5 wt%), which proved to be stable during a few hours on-stream and provided glycerol conversion at least 94% at reaction temperature above 750 °C.