High quality syngas production from catalytic steam gasification of biomass with calcium-rich construction waste

Abstract

High quality syngas was produced by steam gasification of biomass waste with catalyst derived from disposable calcium-rich construction waste after calcination (C-CCW) at high temperature. The effects of biomass gasification parameters including operating temperature, catalyst loading amount and biomass varieties on characteristics of biomass steam gasification were studied. Experiment results indicate that the total gas yield of produced gas derived from steam gasification of corn stalk increased markedly with elevated reaction temperature and catalyst loading amount. Addition of C-CCW on biomass significantly promoted the decomposition of tar in syngas during steam gasification resulting in higher gas yield and better gas quality. The considerable H2 yield (29.70 mmol/g-biomass), CO yield (4.14 mmol/g-biomass), CH4 yield (3.40 mmol/g-biomass), and H2/CO mole ratio (7.17) were achieved after steam gasification of corn stalk with 10.0 wt% C-CCW at 750 °C. There were significant differences in steam gasification performance of different biomass samples owed to the properties of biomass feedstock. Distinct saturation capacities of C-CCW loading amount were observed for enhancing gasification and eliminating tar during steam gasification of diverse biomass feedstocks. C-CCW appeared to have comparable catalytic effect to that of pure CaO and therefore could be an alternative of calcium-containing catalyst.