Hydrogen production from steam reforming of methanol: A comprehensive review on thermodynamics, catalysts, reactors, and kinetic studies

The depletion of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas, and coal, as well as environmental concerns, pave the way for the effective utilization of renewable energy sources. Hydrogen is forecasted as an energy alternative which can be utilized at high conversion causing zero or near-zero emission at the point of use. Methanol is an ideal hydrogen carrier owing to its low cost, high H/C ratio, low reforming temperature, no sulfur content and liquid state at ambient conditions and it can be produced from a variety of feedstocks. This review article provides an overview of the various catalysts employed in steam reforming of methanol (SRM). It delves into the effect of catalyst preparation methods and catalyst composition on the catalytic activity and selectivity for SRM. Thermodynamic analysis, the reaction schemes and kinetics over various catalysts used in SRM were discussed in detail. Various reactors used for SRM, including conventional packed bed, microchannel and membrane reactors were thoroughly reviewed and discussed.