New procedure for hydrogen production

Kurzfassung

A Spanish research group has developed an innovative procedure for hydrogen production by means of oxidative reforming with steam water and air from fuel diesel with sulphur. It’s based on the use of a sulphur-tolerant catalyst. Its main application lies in “in situ” hydrogen generation systems, necessary for the supply of fuel cells. It improves the yield in hydrogen conversion and also the economics of the process. The group is looking for license agreements.

Details

In the early 70s, with the aim of decreasing the environment pollution produced by hydrocarbons, new technologies for hydrogen production started to be developed in the US, Germany, Japan and Sweden. Hydrogen is considered to be one of the clean energetic vectors of the future in thermal and electrochemical processes since the only by-product from the oxidation is steam water, without any kind of polluting emission (NOx, SO, CO, particles, etc.).

Based on the need for procedures to obtain hydrogen, this technology has been developed. It consists of catalytic hydrogen production from oxidative reforming with water and air from hydrocarbons, the boiling temperature whereof is similar to that of diesel in the presence of sulphur components with a stable, active and selective in hydrogen production catalyst.

The catalytic system used in this procedure presents a better behaviour in terms of activity and stability due to the cooperative effect of Cerium and Lanthanum when they are present at the same time. The catalysts activity described is independent of the sulphur content in fuel diesel with content in sulphur below 100 ppm.

The main application of this technology lies in its use in “in situ” hydrogen generation (reformers for supply 5-100 m3/h), necessary for fuel cells supply used in automotive or in the generation of electric energy for stationary use.

Furthermore, the need of reduction of the NOx presents in diesel vehicles emissions appears to be another important field of industrial application. NOx emissions reduction needs catalytic systems for reduction using reductor gases. Therefore, the use of catalytic systems in hydrogen generation systems from the diesel fuel itself turns up as another solution for the need of reductor gas for the removal of nitrogen oxides present in the exhausting gases of diesel vehicles.

Innovative Aspects:
The innovative aspects of this new procedure are based on the use of a catalytic system tolerant to sulphur consisting of a determined formulation with an active metal, selected between platinum, palladium, rhodium and ruthenium carried in a mixture of active oxides.

This way the catalysts systems used nowadays are improved in the following aspects:
- Simple and low-cost metallic formulations are used, alternative to the ones based on bi- and tri-metallic formulations with three active phases.
- A lower complexity in formulation is achieved with utilisation of the lowest number of elements possible.
- Activity and stability in hydrogen production are improved.

The competitive advantages of the technology are referred to the catalytic system used, since it allows obtaining in a stable way a high level of conversion of hydrocarbons in the presence of sulphur compounds, with a high yield in hydrogen. This characteristic, together with the simplicity of the catalyst formulation, represents a progress, allowing the improvement of the economics of hydrogen production process by means of oxidative reforming of fuel diesel with content in sulphur.