Process for selectively reforming ethanol to a hydrogen-rich product in
the presence of at least one catalyst comprising a catalytically active
material supported on a carrier, the process comprising the following
steps in which the at least one catalyst is active: transferring a
stream of ethanol and steam and a hydrogen-comprising stream, the molar
ratio of ethanol to hydrogen being 0.2-1, to a dehydration/hydrogenation
reactor for dehydrating ethanol to ethylene and for hydrogenating
ethylene to produce an ethane-containing stream, adiabatically
pre-reforming the ethane-comprising stream to a stream comprising
methane, steam reforming the stream comprising methane to produce a
mixture comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide, converting the mixture
comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the steam reforming step
under water gas shift conditions to produce a hydrogen-rich product
stream.