Hydrogen production from ethanol via inorganic membrane reactors technology: a review

Nowadays, hydrogen is the most viable energy carrier useful for further applications and in particular for fuel cells. Furthermore, from an environmentally-friendly point of view, hydrogen production from ethanol, mainly producible from biomass, is considered as a new opportunity for exploiting renewable sources. The present paper reviews the current state of the art about hydrogen production from ethanol reforming processes performed through membrane reactors technology. In particular, inorganic membrane reactors are described because they are useful to perform reactions limited by the equilibrium conversion owing to the hydrogen separation capability of an inorganic membrane. The benefits and the main drawbacks of inorganic membrane reactors are examined and the performances in terms of hydrogen yield, hydrogen recovery, conversion and so on are qualitatively compared to those of conventional systems. In addition, an overview on the most relevant scientific results on ethanol reforming processes carried out in inorganic membrane reactors is also reported and discussed. © 2011 The Royal Society of Chemistry.