Hydrogen-rich gasification of biomass using porous catalyst

Abstract

This chapter examines the gasification of cellulose and lignin that are the main components in woody biomass through a constant heating-rate experiment and a constant temperature experiment, using a sponge-like porous Ni catalyst instead of the catalytic fluidized bed. The gasification reactor consists of a cylindrical electric heater and a stainless tube. In the tubular reactor, a sponge-like porous Ni catalyst is installed around the downstream end of the cylindrical heater. For the constant heating-rate experiment, the powder (cellulose and lignin) is put on the porous catalyst beforehand and the reactor is heated with a heating-rate of 60K/min; then the temperature rises from 20°C to over 1000°C. On the other hand, for the constant temperature experiment, the catalyst temperature is kept at constant and then the powder is promptly put on the catalyst surface. By controlling the mole number of oxygen adsorbed on the Ni catalyst surface, almost all of carbon in the cellulose is gasified, which indicates a high possibility of the completely char/tar free gasification. For the lignin with a high carbon/oxygen ratio, much amount of oxygen through gasifying agents or oxygen adsorbed on the catalyst surface is required for the char/tar free gasification.