Kinetics of Steam Gasification of Glucose as a Biomass Surrogate over Ni/Ce–Mesoporous Al2O3 in a Fluidized Bed Reactor

Abstract

This study reports the kinetics of steam gasification of glucose as a biomass surrogate over a new Ni(x)/Ce-doped Al2O3 (x = 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt %) catalyst in a fluidized bed reactor. The presence of ceria plus successive nickel impregnation helped in conserving the catalyst’s high surface area (i.e., 102 m2/g at 20 wt % nickel loading). Incorporation of ceria dopant suppressed coke formation during steam gasification of 15 wt % glucose in the fluidized bed reactor at 650 °C and 1 atm in the order Ni(20) < Ni(15) < Ni(10) < Ni(5)/Ce-doped Al2O3. The detailed kinetic model comprises reactant adsorption, surface reaction, and product desorption steps, involving the water gas shift reaction (WGS), steam reforming of methane (SRM), and reverse dry reforming of methane (RDRM). Ni(20)/Ce-doped Al2O3 with the best performance in terms of syngas production, and the least tendency for coking, was used for the kinetic studies (for T = 550–700 °C and t = 5–25 s). The results of the model simulation indicate that t...