Paper Title
Thermodynamic Analysis of Hydrogen Production by Steam Reforming of Ethanol

Abstract
Hydrogen production varies significantly according to the operating conditions such as pressure, temperature and feed reactants ratio. The thermodynamic analysis provides important knowledge about the effects of those variables in ethanol reforming. A thermodynamic equilibrium analysis was performed over the following variable ranges: pressure 1–50 atm, temperature 300–900 K, and water-to-ethanol feed ratio 3:1-12:1. The present work was aimed at analyzing the thermodynamic steam reforming of ethanol based on the equilibrium constant and minimization of the Gibbs energy methods. For this purpose, EXCEL SOLVER software was used for calculating ethanol conversion, and a TERMOSOLVER software are used to find the number of moles of each species at equilibrium via a minimization technique. The equilibrium concentrations of different compounds were calculated by the method of direct minimization of the Gibbs free energy. Results show that ethanol conversion can be completed at temperatures equal to or higher than 600 K at any value of pressure and molar ratio. Hydrogen production is thermodynamically favored at high temperature, high ethanol-to-water molar feed ratio, and low pressure, while the thermodynamic of CO formation is preferred at high temperature, low ethanol-to-water molar feed ratio, and low pressure. The result also show that, in order to avoid coke formation, temperature and water-to-ethanol feed ratio equal to or higher than500 K and 3:1, respectively is required. Keywords - Thermodynamic Analysis; Ethanol Steam Reforming; Hydrogen