Spray operation for hydrogen production from methanol over Ni-Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts

Hydrogen has a promising future as a depository of clean energy, and its development is an important research and development pathway. The present study confirms the applicability of Ni-Cu/Al₂O₃ composites in a methanol steam reforming process, which serves as an environmentally friendly and economical way of producing hydrogen. The high porosity and surface area allow greater contact between the reactants and the catalysts in the hydrogen production process. With a Taguchi orthogonal matrix design, the relative impact of a selected group of factors on hydrogen productivity was investigated. With a novel technique of ultrasonic sprays, the prepared Ni-Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts were able to achieve 96.9% methanol conversion, 36.9 vol% hydrogen concentration in the product gas, and 2.72 mol∙(mol CH₃OH)^-1 hydrogen yield at 250°C.