Trung Hoang, Xinli Zhu, Richard G. Mallinson, and Lance L. Lobban. School Of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, University of Oklahoma, 100 E. Boyd St, T-335, Norman, OK 73019
Production of hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles, mobile power generators, and for hydrogen enhanced internal combustion engines from biomass sources is a potential path to a green hydrogen economy component. However, traditional catalytic reformers have several problems for smaller scale applications. Hydrogen production from non-thermal plasma is an alternative approach with recently encouraging results. A steam reformer using non-thermal plasma with WGS catalyst has developed to produce hydrogen directly from bio-ethanol (water content can be up to 65% in volume). High conversion is obtained at 96.4%. CO levels have been reduced to less than 1% with insitu WGS catalyst.