Hydrogen production by reforming of iso-octane using spray-pulsed injection and effect of non-thermal plasma Original Research Article

Production of hydrogen-rich gas via reforming of hydrocarbons is desired for onboard supply of hydrogen to PEMFC applications. Iso-octane is used in this study to simulate the reforming of gasoline under autothermal conditions using a steam/carbon ratio equal to 1 and an equivalence ratio equal to 0.32. The reforming has been carried out at temperatures of 600 and 700 °C on Ni–Mn, Ni–W and Rh–Ce catalysts supported on alumina mesh. A novel spray-pulsed reactor with fine nozzle is used for providing atomized iso-octane in pulses. The alternate wet and dry conditions improved the catalyst-reactant contact and enhanced the hydrogen production rate. The iso-octane dose was controlled by variation in pulse injection frequency (0.001, 0.01, 0.05 and 0.1 Hz) and pulse width (2 and 6 ms). The maximum hydrogen yield obtained is 4 mol of hydrogen per mole of iso-octane. Further, the effect of non-thermal plasma in combination with catalyst on reaction was tested under spray-pulse injection of iso-octane.