Co-production of high quality hydrogen and synthesis gas via sorption-enhanced steam reforming of glycerol coupled with methane reforming of carbonates.

Graphical abstract Highlights • A feasible technology that coupled the SESR of glycerol with CH 4 reforming of carbonates was proposed. • The carbonates was directly converted to syngas by reacting with CH 4. • Hydrogen purity of 98.53% was achieved from SESR of glycerol over 10Ni-CA2.8 catalyst. • CH 4 conversion was high up to 95.3% during the CH 4 reforming of carbonates. Abstract The sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR) produces high-purity hydrogen and capture CO 2 in the form of carbonates, allowing for controllable CO 2 storage or utilization. However, the decarbonation of carbonates at temperatures high up to 800–900 °C makes the SESR process and the subsequent CO 2 utilization energy-intensive. Herein, we report the feasibility coupling the SESR of glycerol with CH 4 reforming of carbonates, which combines the decarbonation with CO 2 utilization to simplify the technology and avoid the energy-consuming temperature swing. A high-efficiency bi-functional Ni-CaO-Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 catalyst was proposed to this process. The catalyst was derived from a Ni-Ca-Al hydrotalcite-like (HTl) material to achieve homogeneous mixing of Ni, CaO and Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 which were active metal, sorbent and a spacer to prevent CaO sintering. Thanks to the high activity and stability of Ni-CaO-Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 catalysts, 98.53% hydrogen-enriched gas could be obtained in SESR of glycerol, and the high CH 4 conversion (95.3%) and H 2 /CO molar ratio (<2) suitable for further Fisher-Tropsch synthesis were achieved during the CH 4 reforming reaction. Meanwhile, Ca 12 Al 14 O 33 as a spacer had provided a stability for ten cycles. Our results highlight the significance of process intensification and high-efficiency bi-functional catalysts for the hydrogen production with low carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]