TY - JOUR
T1 - A performance evaluation of a microchannel reactor for the production of hydrogen from formic acid for electrochemical energy applications
AU - Ndlovu, Isabella M.
AU - Everson, Raymond C.
AU - Chiuta, Steven
AU - Neomagus, Hein W.J.P.
AU - Langmi, Henrietta W.
AU - Ren, Jianwei
AU - Engelbrecht, Nicolaas
AU - Bessarabov, Dmitri G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Authors.
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - An experimental evaluation of a microchannel reactor was completed to assess the reactor performance for the catalytic decomposition of vaporised formic acid (FA) for H2 production. Initially, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), elemental mapping using SEM-EDS and BET surface area measurements were done to characterise the commercial Au/Al2O3 catalyst. The reactor was evaluated using pure (99.99%) and diluted (50/50 vol.%) FA at reactor temperatures of 250-350°C and inlet vapour flow rates of 12-48 mL.min-1. Satisfactory reactor performance was demonstrated at 350°C as near-equilibrium FA conversion (> 98%) was obtained for all flow rates investigated. The best operating point was identified as 350°C and 48 mL.min-1 (pure FA feed) with a H2 yield of 68.7%. At these conditions the reactor performed well in comparison to conventional systems, achieving a H2 production rate of 11.8 NL.gcat-1.h-1. This paper therefore highlights important considerations for ongoing design and development of microchannel reactors for the decomposition of FA for H2 production.
AB - An experimental evaluation of a microchannel reactor was completed to assess the reactor performance for the catalytic decomposition of vaporised formic acid (FA) for H2 production. Initially, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), elemental mapping using SEM-EDS and BET surface area measurements were done to characterise the commercial Au/Al2O3 catalyst. The reactor was evaluated using pure (99.99%) and diluted (50/50 vol.%) FA at reactor temperatures of 250-350°C and inlet vapour flow rates of 12-48 mL.min-1. Satisfactory reactor performance was demonstrated at 350°C as near-equilibrium FA conversion (> 98%) was obtained for all flow rates investigated. The best operating point was identified as 350°C and 48 mL.min-1 (pure FA feed) with a H2 yield of 68.7%. At these conditions the reactor performed well in comparison to conventional systems, achieving a H2 production rate of 11.8 NL.gcat-1.h-1. This paper therefore highlights important considerations for ongoing design and development of microchannel reactors for the decomposition of FA for H2 production.
KW - Au/AlO catalyst
KW - Formic acid decomposition
KW - Fuel cell application
KW - Hydrogen production
KW - Microchannel reactor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85040037937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.20964/2018.01.18
DO - 10.20964/2018.01.18
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85040037937
SN - 1452-3981
VL - 13
SP - 485
EP - 497
JO - International Journal of Electrochemical Science
JF - International Journal of Electrochemical Science
IS - 1
ER -
