Thermodynamic Analysis of Glycerol Steam Reforming for Hydrogen Production

Glycerol is used in many applications including personal care, food, polymer, and pharmaceutical applications. Rapid growth in biodiesel industry is has resulted in an abundance production of glycerol that had led a huge drop in market prices. In this project, thermodynamic analysis of glycerol steam reforming, using the minimization of Gibbs energy has been evaluated. The thermodynamic equilibrium analysis is performed over the following variables range: pressure 1-50 atm, temperature 473-1073K, and water-to-glycerol feed ratio 0-5. The study revealed that the best conditions for producing hydrogen is at a temperature >973K and a molar ratio of water to glycerol of 5:1.