Effects of a Nickel Reactor Liner and Varying Water to Glycerin Molar Ratio During Supercritical Water Reformation of Glycerin

Biodiesel production and its glycerin byproduct have increased in recent years in response to rising demands for renewable and greener fuel technologies. While glycerin has beneficial properties for a variety of end uses, its over-abundance in the market place has rendered a new challenge of finding other economically viable and sizable uses for this commodity. An experimental feasibility study of the novel conversion of glycerin into hydrogen via non-catalytic reformation using supercritical water was conducted in a 400-mL tubular reactor constructed of Haynes Alloy 230. The evaluated parameters for the novel reaction process included water-to-glycerin molar ratios ranging from 3 to 24 using the Haynes Alloy 230 reactor without a liner and with a Nickel 201 liner. For one study, the reactor temperature was kept at approximately 873 K and 973 K for another. The space time for both studies was maintained at approximately 100 seconds. The effects of varying water-to-glycerin molar ratio and reactor liner materials upon gaseous hydrogen production as well as on the overall process chemistry were evaluated.