The aim of this work was to study the performance of Ni and Co catalysts supported on alumina to convert acetic acid into hydrogen. Acetic acid was chosen as representative compound for the steam reforming of bio-oil derived from biomass pyrolysis. In this study alumina supported Ni, Co and bimetallic Ni-Co catalyst were prepared by wet impregnation and characterized by XRD, SEM-EDX, BET and TPR-H-2 analysis. Steam reforming of acetic acid was conducted in a fixed bed reactor at a temperature of 500 degrees C and 600 degrees C. Among the catalysts studied, the best catalytic performance for the acetic acid steam reforming at 500 degrees C was obtained by the bimetallic catalysts, which presented an effluent gaseous mixture with the highest H-2 selectivity and reasonable low CO formation. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.