Analysis of the hydrogen yield for the ethanol steam reforming

A choice of the catalyst depends on its performance which is primarily defined by the yield of the desired product which is a function of the catalyst selectivity. Selectivity for the heterogeneous catalytic process could be a complicated function of the experimental data for a complex reaction network. Selectivity is of particular interest for hydrogen production by biomass steam reforming or, particularly, by bioethanol steam reforming (ESR). For ESR, we propose an approach according to which the hydrogen yield is a function of selectivity to the carbon-containing reaction products. The approach allows one to analyze the experimental data in a very sophisticated way. We show the usefulness of our approach for the critical analysis of results presented in the literature, particularly for verifying the reliability of the hydrogen yield reported for ESR.