Continuous aqueous phase reforming of wastewater streams: A catalyst deactivation study

This paper reports on the catalytic performance and deactivation in aqueous phase reforming of wastewater streams for H2 production. Brewery wastewater was chosen as representative of this type of effluent. The effect of catalyst support textural characteristics was evaluated using an activated carbon and different modified supports obtained by infiltration and carbonization of a phenolic resol resin into activated carbon. The effect of active phase was evaluated using Pt and PtRe catalysts with different metal molar ratio. At short time on stream values, Pt catalysts supported on modified activated carbon showed higher H2 production than those supported on unmodified activated carbon, indicating that a lower microporosity facilitates the transport of reactants to catalytic active sites and release of reaction products. Bimetallic PtRe catalysts showed higher activity than Pt, particularly using a metal molar ratio of 1:1, which yielded the highest H2 production (117.2 mu mol min-1). Despite the different catalysts tested, early and significant deactivation was observed. The characterization of used catalysts allows postulating the adsorption of organic species and/or coke-like matter deposition on the catalysts surface as main causes of deactivation.