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Updated: Aug 5, 2025

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Effect of Water Content on Ethanol Steam Reforming in the Nonthermal Plasma
Bogdan Ulejczyk1, Łukasz Nogal2, Michał Młotek1
1Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, Noakowskiego 3, 00-664 Warsaw, Poland.
Abstract:
Ethanol steam reforming can be a source of green hydrogen. The process of producing hydrogen from ethanol is very complex. Catalysts designed for this process often become deactivated due to coke deposition. In this work, a plasma reactor was used, which is insensitive to disturbance induced by coke. The research focused on determining the influence of steam on the course of the process. The optimal water/ethanol molar ratio was found to be 4. The energy efficiency was the highest at this ratio, 22.5 mol(H2)/kW h. At the same time, a high ethanol conversion (92%) was obtained. It was also observed that the conversion of steam was many times lower than that of ethanol. However, water shortage caused a rapid increase in coke, acetylene, and ethylene production.
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