Recent advances in materials for high purity H2 production by ethanol and glycerol steam reforming

Abstract

This review focuses on the recent advances in CO2 adsorbents and H-2 permselective membranes that can be integrated to catalytic ethanol and glycerol steam reforming for improving purity and throughput of H-2, the key input of mobile and stationary fuel cells and of hydrogenation operations of conventional and bio-refining. Combined with the decentralized availability of ethanol and glycerol, integrated reforming-separation strategies offer the advantage of on-site production of pure H-2 with environmental footprints, capital and operating expenses below those of the conventional natural-gas based steam reforming technologies. The review also covers metal organic framework membranes, the materials that offer fluxes significantly superior to those of the existing counterparts, in the context of their hydrothermal stability needed for steam reforming.