OP-II-3

OP-III-B-2JOINT STEAM REFORMING OF BIO-OIL AND BIO-ETHANOLFOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTIONIntroductionRemiro A., Valle B., Vicente J., Gayubo A.G., Bilbao J.Department of Chemical Engineering, University of the Basque Country.P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Basque Country, aingeru.remiro@ehu.esThe catalytic steam reforming of biomass-derived oxygenates (such as the bio-oilobtained by fast pyrolysis or the bio-ethanol obtained by fermentation) is a promisingalternative for hydrogen production that could contribute to developing the biorefineryconcept [1]. The viability of bio-oil upgrading by catalytic processes, such as steamreforming, is restricted by the problem associated with the deposition of pyrolyticlignin (formed by the polymerization of phenol derivatives contained in the crudebio-oil) in the reactor and on the catalyst, which causes fast deactivation of thecatalyst and equipment blockage [2]. Previous studies have proven that a thermaltreatment step (for carrying out a controlled polymerization of bio-oil phenol-derivedcompounds) prior to the catalytic reactor [3] and the co-feeding of light alcohols [4]contribute to attenuating these problems.The catalytic steam reforming of a bio-oil/bio-ethanol mixture is studied in this paperin a two-step process: thermal treatment + catalytic steam reforming. The effect ofco-feeding ethanol with bio-oil on the amount of residual carbon deposited in thethermal treatment, H 2 yield, bio-oil conversion and catalyst stability have beenanalyzed in order to prove the viability of the overall process.ExperimentalThe bio-oil (obtained from fast pyrolysis of pine sawdust) has been separated intotwo fractions (aqueous, 64 wt%, and organic, 36 wt%) by adding water with a massratio 2/1. The aqueous fraction is composed of 19 wt% organics (CH 1.80 O 0.65 ) andwater, which corresponds to a steam/carbon ratio, S/C=5.8. The addition of ethanolhas been carried out by maintaining the S/C ratio constant and modifying the biooil/ethanolmass ratio (100/0, 80/20, 60/40, 40/60 and 0/100).The reaction equipment consists of a two-unit system: a U-shaped steel tube isused for the thermal treatment (200 °C) of the feed, and steam reforming issubsequently carried out in a fluidized bed reactor. The kinetic runs (at 700 °C andwith a space velocity of 42000 h –1 ) have been carried out on a Ni/α-Al 2 O 3 catalyst183