Low temperature catalytic steam gasification of HyperCoal to produce H 2 and synthesis gas

Abstract

HyperCoal is an ultra clean coal with ash content <0.05 wt%. Catalytic steam gasification of HyperCoal was carried out with K 2CO 3 at 775–650 °C for production of H 2 rich gas and synthesis gas. The catalytic gasification of HyperCoal showed nearly four times higher gasification rate than raw coal. The major gases evolved were H 2: 63 vol%, CO: 6 vol% and CO 2: 30 vol%. Catalyst was recycled for four times without any significant rate loss. The partial pressure of steam was varied from 0.5 atm to 0.05 atm in order to investigate the effect of steam pressure on H 2/CO ratio. The H 2/CO ratio decreased from 9.5 at 0.5 atm to 1.9 at 0.05 atm. No significant decrease in gasification rate was observed due to change in partial pressure of steam. Gasification rate decreased with decreasing temperature and become very slow at 650 °C. The preliminary results showed that HyperCoal, an ash less coal, could be a potential hydrocarbon resource for H 2 and synthesis gas production at low temperature by catalytic steam gasification process.