Novel nickel ceramic filter for hot gas cleanup of tars from syngas

Abstract

Tars, defined as hydrocarbons having molecular weights above that of benzene, have been considered to be one of the major impurities in syngas preventing largescale commercialization of biomass gasification. Catalytic tar removal has shown the most promise in reforming/eliminating tars compared to physical and thermal techniques. Nickel based catalytic filter was developed using porous ceramic support, which acts both as a particulate filter and tar reformer, resulting in process intensification. The relatively high surface area of the ceramic filter (100 m2/g) makes it an ideal catalyst support. Nickel based ceramic catalysts were prepared using incipient wetness method and evaluated for tar removal effectiveness using naphthalene as a tar simulant. Influence of nickel loading, steam/carbon ratios, and temperatures on steam reforming activity of the catalyst was performed. Promising results were obtained with naphthalene conversions of 76% using a 15 wt% nickel filter over 2 h with very minimal pressure drop across the catalytic filter, offering a promising potential of using catalytic ceramic filters for integrated tar and particulate removal applications.