Autothermal reforming of ethyl acetate for hydrogen production over Ni₃La₇O_y/Al₂O₃ catalyst

Highlights: • H₂ production from waste oil by autothermal reforming was confirmed feasible. • Ni₃La₇O_y/Al₂O₃ catalyst exhibited the best performance for ATR of ethyl acetate. • Ni/La molar ratio significantly affected the catalytic properties. - Abstract: Hydrogen produced from waste cooking oil is a meaningful challenge work in the fields of energy and environment. In view of the fact that the acidic waste cooking oil is easily converted to ester compounds by esterification, in this work, hydrogen production by autothermal reforming of ethyl acetate as a simple typical ester compound over Ni_xLa_10−xO_y/Al₂O₃ catalysts was studied with the aim at disclosing the feasibility of hydrogen production from waste cooking oil. Effects of Ni/La molar ratios, reaction temperature, calcination temperature and surface acidity on the catalytic performance were systematically investigated. Results showed that the catalyst with the Ni/La molar ratio of 3:7 exhibited the best catalytic performance at the active reaction temperature range of 700–800 °C, and the Ni₃La₇O_y/Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 700 °C obtained 87% H₂ selectivity, 62% CO selectivity, 32% CO₂ selectivity, low selectivity to CH₄, 94.49% carbon balance and high stability at 750 °C. Moreover, low acidity promoted the autothermal reforming reaction, and the optimal Ni₃La₇O_y/Al₂O₃ catalyst was also experimentally confirmed that it was effective for autothermal reforming of waste cooking oil into hydrogen.