Kinetic modeling of pure hydrogen production from decalin

We investigate the dehydrogenation of decalin for the production of pure hydrogen for fuel cell applications . Supported Pt catalysts can achieve about 98% conversion with > 99.9 % selectivity for the dehydrogenation reaction. Cracking reactions occur only at high temperature. The partially dehydrogenated product, tetralin, was formed with a molar selectivity < 6 % , depending on the operating conditions. We investigated the kinetics of the dehydrogenation of decalin in a fixed-bed tubular reactor at 275–345 °C and atmospheric pressure. A Hougen–Watson-type kinetic model accounted for the dehydrogenation of cis - and trans -decalin as well as the isomerization between the two isomers, the formation of the intermediate tetralin and the final product, naphthalene . The rigorous discrimination between rival models led to parameter values that are statistically significant and satisfied the physicochemical criteria.