The Steam Gasification of Coal Catalyzed by KOH for the Production of Hydrogen

Abstract

Potassium-catalyzed steam gasification of Hohhot coal for H2 production was performed using a laboratory fixed-bed reaction system with an on-line cubic micro flow infrared gas analyzer. The gasification reactivity, gasification selectivity, and gas release for the catalytic gasification were investigated and compared with the non-catalytic gasification. The amounts of gases released in the heat-up stage were insignificant for catalyzed gasification, compared to those released in the gasification stage. The potassium hydroxide catalyst could not only effectively promote gasification reactivity, but also enhance greatly H2 production. In the case of catalytic gasification, the steam partial pressure had an effect on the gasification reactivity, suggesting that there existed in an optimum steam partial pressure (about 50%) for H2 production from the potassium-catalyzed steam gasification of the Hohhot coal. In addition, Hohhot coal could be feasibly utilized as the feedstock for the catalytic steam gasification to produce gases with high H2 (60.9–65.2%).