Biomass derived tar decomposition over coal char bed

Abstract

The effect of coal char on the decomposition of rice straw derived tar was investigated in a two-stage fixed bed reactor. The reactor was divided into a pyrolysis zone (upper part) and a volatile-char contacting zone (lower part). Rice straw was pyrolysed at different temperatures in the upper part. Coal char, prepared by the pyrolysis of Indonesian coal at either 600 °C (char600) or 800 °C (char800), was located in the lower part. Volatiles from the rice straw (upper part) were produced and then came in contact with the coal char at the lower part under the N2 (pyrolysis) or steam/N2 (steam reforming) gas flow. Under pyrolysis, both char600 and char800 exhibited a catalytic effect on the thermal tar decomposition. The coal chars also played a significant catalytic activity on the decomposition of the heavy aromatic hydrocarbons that were generated at a high pyrolysis temperature. In the presence of steam, char600 also exhibited a catalytic role in tar steam reforming, while char800 did not reveal any such significant catalytic activity because of the predominant coke/carbon formation.