Biomass to hydrogen-rich syngas via catalytic steam gasification of bio-oil/biochar slurry

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2015-12, Vol.198, p.108-114
• Main Authors: Chen, Guanyi, Yao, Jingang, Liu, Jing, Yan, Beibei, Shan, Rui
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bio-oil/biochar slurry; Biomass; Biotechnology - methods; Calcium Compounds; Carbon; Catalysis; Catalytic steam gasification; Charcoal - chemistry; Gases; Hot Temperature; Hydrogen; Oxides; Perovskite-type oxide; Steam; Temperature; Titanium
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.009

•H2 from the catalytic steam gasification of bioslurry was studied.•LaXFeO3 (X=Ce, Mg, K) catalysts were tested for bioslurry steam gasification.•La0.8Ce0.2FeO3 showed stable reactivity and good resistance to carbon deposition.•Maximum H2 yield was 82.01% of the theoretical value.•The H2 yield maximized at conditions of 800°C, WCMR of 2 and WbHSV of 15.36h−1. The catalytic steam gasification of bio-oil/biochar slurry (bioslurry) for hydrogen-rich syngas production was investigated in a fixed-bed reactor using LaXFeO3 (X=Ce, Mg, K) perovskite-type catalysts. The effects of elemental substitution in LaFeO3, temperature, water to carbon molar ratio (WCMR) and bioslurry weight hourly space velocity (WbHSV) were examined. The results showed that La0.8Ce0.2FeO3 gave the best performance among the prepared catalysts and had better catalytic activity and stability than the commercial 14wt.% Ni/Al2O3. The deactivation caused by carbon deposition and sintering was significantly depressed in the case of La0.8Ce0.2FeO3 catalyst. Both higher temperature and lower WbHSV contributed to more H2 yield. The optimal WCMR was found to be 2, and excessive introducing of steam reduced hydrogen yield. The La0.8Ce0.2FeO3 catalyst gave a maximum H2 yield of 82.01% with carbon conversion of 65.57% under the optimum operating conditions (temperature=800°C, WCMR=2 and WbHSV=15.36h−1).