Process for the production of hydrogen and electrical energy from reforming of bio-ethanol with the use of fuel cells and with zero emission of pollutants

A process for producing hydrogen and electrical energy with no emission of pollutants from ethanol obtained from a biomass which comprises the steps of:

• (a) providing an aqueous solution of ethanol in a concentration of approximately 8 to 12% originating from fermentation of a biomass;
• (b) separating water from the aqueous solution of ethanol so that the aqueous solution of ethanol contains approximately 40 to 70% by weight ethanol;
• (c) mixing a portion of the aqueous solution of ethanol obtained according to step (b) with air or oxygen to form a mixture in such a way that the ratio of moles of oxygen per mole of ethanol is between 0.0 and 0.5;
• (d) separately feeding the aqueous ethanol obtained according to step (b) and the mixture containing aqueous ethanol and air or oxygen according to step (c) to a thermally insulated reactor comprising a thermally insulated casing and ceramic or metal tubes comprising a tube wall in the internal area of which and in the external area of which catalysts are placed which respectively catalyze reforming ethanol to obtain a gaseous mixture containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen and which catalyze oxidizing ethanol to obtain water, carbon dioxide, hydrogen with liberation of heat wherein each of the catalysts is the same or different;
• (e) adiabatically and separately reforming and partially oxidizing respectively the aqueous ethanol and the mixture containing aqueous ethanol and air or oxygen in the thermally insulated reactor wherein the heat of reaction needed to carry out the reforming of the aqueous ethanol is supplied by the partial oxidizing of the mixture containing aqueous ethanol and air or oxygen and is transported through the walls of the tubes within the thermally insulated reactor from the partial oxidation reaction to the reforming reaction to obtain the gaseous mixture containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen and to control temperature distribution along the length of the thermally insulated reactor;
• (f) following the reforming of the aqueous ethanol in step (e) to obtain the gaseous mixture containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen, either performing a water gas shift reaction to convert any carbon monoxide formed in the gaseous mixture during the reforming along with water vapor to hydrogen and carbon dioxide, or combusting the carbon monoxide, or converting the carbon monoxide to methane;
• and
• (g) separating the hydrogen from the gaseous mixture in the thermally insulated reactor, and feeding the hydrogen to a fuel cell for producing electrical energy.