# Glycerol Steam Reforming in a Pilot Plant: Effect of Temperature and Catalyst Load
## 2 Materials and Methods
### Experimental Setup  
Regarding our experimental facility, Figure 3 shows a general outline of the GSR system and its main components. Some of the main components of this glycerol steam reforming system will be briefly explained. Thus, the aim of the drying system, a steel tank of 35 L, was to dehydrate wet glycerol. The heating jackets (2 units) were used to cover the drying system and heat it at 120-130 \({}^{\circ}\)C to remove salts in glycerol. The glycerol-water mixture steel tank had a capacity of 30 L, with the aim of mixing purified glycerol with distilled water (at a specific ratio) to obtain one single homogeneous phase before introducing it in the reactor. The stirrer was designed to mix highly viscous substances, through a stainless-steel anchor. On the other hand, the distilller obtained distilled water from tap water. The peristaltic pump provided the glycerol-water mix to the reactor, at a constant and controlled flow rate. The aim of the basket was to provoke the contact of gas and heated areas to assure a correct gasification and to retain the carbon residue produced during this process. The reactor (a stainless-steel cylinder) was the element where glycerol steam reforming was going to take place, which was covered by an electric oven covering the central part of the reactor to obtain around 700-800 \({}^{\circ}\)C within the reactor. The temperature was controlled by a PID controller, measuring the inner temperature through a thermocouple. Finally, once the outlet gas was produced in the reactor, it was cooled down through a heat exchanger connected \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline
**Proximate Analysis, \%** & **Result** \\ \hline Ultimate Analysis, \% & \\ \hline C & 30.3 (\(\pm\)0.5) \\ H & 8.68 (\(\pm\)0.30) \\ N & 0.016 (\(\pm\)0.001) \\ S & 0.052 (\(\pm\)0.002) \\ \hline HHV, kcal/kg & \\ \hline Crude glycerol & 3332 (\(\pm\)25) \\ Dried glycerol & 3467 (\(\pm\)33) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._to a chiller, obtaining condensate liquids in the corresponding tank. The gas flow was measured by a float-type flowmeter, and datalogers were used to measure the temperature at different points of the system. The outlet gas composition (mainly H\({}_{2}\), CO, CO\({}_{2}\), CH\({}_{4}\)) was determined through gas chromatography, using a Varian 3900 chromatograph coupled to a thermal conductivity detector, with a packed column (Supelco Carboxen 1000 60/80). The carrier gas was argon and synthetic air. In this study, the introduction of certain improvements in the steam reforming system, compared to previous studies, was carried out. The main upgrades are included in Table 4: \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline
**Improvement** & **Details** \\ \hline Installation of an electrical board & A sensor connected to this electrical board was used to control water level in heat exchanger \\ \hline Insulation joints in reactor & In order to avoid gas leakage in steam reforming reactor, two insulation joints were installed in the reactor, one for each cover. A leak test was carried out to check the effectiveness of these joints \\ \hline Leak point detection and repair & The system was checked to avoid leak points. The exhaust tube presented leak points, and it was replaced \\ \hline Basket maintenance & The basket was cleaned during this experiment to avoid rust, by using a polishing machine \\ \hline Basket modifications & The reactor was modified, being a cylindrical piece with a constriction at the end of it, which was considered to modify the shape of the basket to be perfectly adapted to the end of the reactor, forcing the gas to pass through the basket containing the catalyst \\ \hline Peristaltic pump calibration & The pump was perfectly calibrated to make sure that the amount of water required by the system was exact and constant \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Improvements in glycerol steam reforming system carried out in this experiment.