Catalytic Reforming Of Tar Research Articles

Adsorption and C-C bond cleavage of benzene on hematite α-Fe2O3 surfaces: a DFT mechanistic study.

Reforming tar molecules into smaller gaseous molecules has been a critical challenge for biomass energy utilization. Hematite (α-Fe2O3) has been demonstrated as an effective catalyst for the catalytic reforming of tar, nevertheless, the detailed mechanism of α-Fe2O3 catalyzed tar reforming remains unclear. In this work, we apply the density functional theory method to investigate this problem. Specifically, we study both (0001) and (01[Formula: see text]2) surface structures of α-Fe2O3 and then use the structures to investigate the adsorption and C-C bond cleavage of benzene on these surfaces. Our results show that the dominant interactions between benzene and a single Fe-terminated (0001) surface are van der Waals forces, yet benzene could be chemisorbed on the Fe and O co-exposed (01[Formula: see text]2) surface via strong C-O interactions. As a result, the (0001) surface is not active towards benzene cleavage, whereas the (01[Formula: see text]2) surface can promote the aromatic C-C bond breaking. Furthermore, our calculations indicate that chain-like alkene species and carbonyl species are the two types of potential products that form after the C-C bond cleavage of benzene on the α-Fe2O3 (01[Formula: see text]2) surface, with the activation energy of 1.78eV and 2.62eV, respectively. In summary, we reveal the importance of co-adsorption on both Fe and O centers and oxidative addition on C-C bond cleavage of aromatic compounds on the α-Fe2O3 surface, which provides novel insights into the mechanisms of tar cracking on oxide catalysts.

Microwave driven steam reforming of biomass model tar based on metal organic frameworks (ZIF-67) derived Co/C catalyst

Tar catalytic removal is a key issue in biomass gasification, which is suffering from catalyst coking and sintering. Microwave technology is attractive due to the high activity on polar molecules and ability to lower activation energy. In this study, the Co/C derived from metal-organic frameworks (ZIF-67) was developed as a bifunctional microwave catalyst that can strengthen the interaction between microwave and tar catalytic reforming, and enhance the anti-coking and sintering ability. The effects of the temperature, heating method, tar concentration, and catalyst support on model tar conversion rate were investigated. The operating conditions at 700 °C and tar concentration lower than 20 g/m3 can reach a promising conversion rate over 90.15 % under microwave irradiation. On the one hand, microwave heating groups performed better in conversion rate and coking compared to conventional heating, due to the active species generated from the microwave plasma. On the other hand, Co/C showed better performance in catalytic activity and sintering stability, due to the highly dispersion of cobalt nanoparticles and the confinement effect of carbon nanotubes on the catalyst surface. These findings proposed a novel approach for efficient biomass tar removal under microwave irradiation, and offered a potential tool to further reveal the mechanism in microwave driven tar steam reforming system.

Microwave-Assisted dry reforming of toluene as a model tar compound using low-cost iron catalyst for syngas clean-up

Gasification of waste feedstock such as biomass, waste plastics suffers from high tar yields during hydrogen-rich syngas production. The presence of tars result in lower quality syngas, lower syngas yields, reactor blockage, reactor down time, and costly maintenance. Therefore, removal of tar from syngas during gasification is essential. Catalytic reforming of tars via in-situ syngas cleanup is an effective way of mitigating tars. This work explores the possibility of microwave-assisted catalytic dry reforming of tars for syngas production. Due to its chemical complexity, toluene, which is one of the main tar constituents, could be used as a model tar compound. Toluene dry reforming was studied using the Fe/Al2O3 catalyst under CO2 under the temperature range of 400–700 ℃. The toluene reforming reaction was conducted using microwave and conventional thermal reactors. Under microwave irradiation, CO2 and toluene conversions are boosted to 80% at 500 ℃. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide yields were approximately five times and ten times higher in the microwave reactor at 500 ℃, respectively, compared to the productions obtained in the conventional fixed-bed reactor at 700 ℃. Filamentous carbon was also produced as a valuable side product to improve the economy of this process and such value-added carbon was only observed in the microwave reactor. Three reaction pathways were observed during microwave reaction: the toluene decomposition produces an initial hydrogen and carbon deposit on the catalyst; the formation of methane and benzene suggests toluene hydrodemethylation as a secondary reaction; and toluene hydrogenolysis forms light alkanes such as methane, and through reforming reaction under CO2 to syngas.

Effects of various pyrolysis temperatures on the physicochemical characteristics of crop straw-derived biochars and their application in tar reforming

As a by-product of the rapid pyrolysis of biomass, biochar not only plays an important role in the biomass conversion process but also holds significant potential value in the catalytic conversion field. This study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical properties changes of biochars at different pyrolysis temperatures and their potential application in tar reforming. Biochars derived from three feedstocks of maize straw (MS), rice husk (RH), and cotton straw (CS) were achieved by fast pyrolysis within a broad temperature range of 300–900 °C, respectively. The results showed that the pyrolysis temperature exerted a pronounced influence on the structural characteristics of biochar. With increasing temperature, the H/C and O/C ratios progressively decreased, accompanied by a significant reduction in oxygen-containing structures. In addition, elevated pyrolysis temperatures contributed favorably to the formation of the crystalline structure of biochar. Raman analysis unveiled a correlation between the fused aromatic ring system and H/C ratios, validating the aromatization progress of biochar. In the tar catalytic reforming process, the three representative biochars, under the effect of MS-600 (standing for MS biochar derived at 600 °C), RH-600, and CS-600 catalysts, exhibited outstanding catalytic performance with tar conversion efficiencies of 73.26%, 68.51%, and 71.43%, respectively. This study provided systematic support for the high-value use of biochar from crop straw.

Enhancing CO2 gasification-reforming of municipal solid waste with Ni/CeO2 and Ni/ZrO2 catalysts

CO2 gasification-reforming facilitates CO2 utilization and yields CO-rich syngas for municipal waste management. Catalysts are essential for enhancing syngas production via catalytic tar reforming.

Experimental study on hydrogen production from heavy tar in biomass gasification furnace catalyzed by carbon-based catalysts

High boiling point heavy tar compounds such as pyrene and naphthalene are key factors causing corrosion and blockage in the pipelines of biomass thermal utilization equipment, and catalytic reforming represents an effective means to address heavy tar issues. Biomass carbon, characterized by its cost-effectiveness, high efficiency, and environmental friendliness, is envisioned as a catalyst carrier with extensive application prospects. In this study, the tar produced by a biomass fixed-bed gasifier was investigated, with an initial analysis of the pyrolysis process and definition of its different stages conducted. It was discovered that the condensation and secondary cracking stages are the predominant phases for the formation of heavy tars, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Carbon-based carriers were prepared using apricot shell as the raw material, and biomass carbon-based catalysts were synthesized via impregnation methods. The heavy tar extracted from the original tar through distillation was utilized in the hydrogen production tests of steam catalytic reforming with biomass carbon-based catalysts. The investigation into the impact of temperature, steam-to-tar mass ratio (S/T), and tar-to-catalyst mass ratio (T/C) on the catalytic reforming of tar has been conducted. In considering a variety of parameters, including hydrogen production rate, tar conversion rate, and the volume of hydrogen generated, it was found that under the conditions of 800 °C, S/T = 3, and T/C = 2, the Ni/C catalyst yielded the highest amount of hydrogen (91.52 g H2/kg tar) with a tar conversion rate of 93.30 %. The Ni-Co/C composite catalyst exhibited stronger catalytic activity and superior deactivation resistance compared to the monometallic catalysts. For the latter, steam regeneration methods effectively restored the catalytic activity of the carbon-based catalysts, enhancing the hydrogen yield rates of Ni/C and Co/C catalysts by 2.74 and 1.55 times respectively.

Pyrolytic-gasification of biomass and plastic accompanied with catalytic sequential tar reformation into hydrogen-rich gas

Synthetic Fe–CaO–Ni-mayenite-CeO2 catalyst was adopted in the production of H2-rich gas from formed tar obtained from biomass-plastic pyrolysis and gasification. The molar ratio of the individual components in the catalyst (Fe–CaO–Ni-mayenite-CeO2) is 1:1:1: 1:2 as designed for the catalytic reforming of tar. The steam flow rate was fixed at 0.5 g/min. The role of mayenite-CeO2 in the catalyst and the temperature at which the catalyst was calcined during the pyrolysis–gasification of the Hazelnut shell/polypropylene mixture was examined. The inclusion of Mayenite was to provide the desired support for the activity of Ni–Fe. In addition, sulfur poisoning influences the activity of the Fe–CaO–Ni-Mayenite catalyst. On the other hand, CaO can easily become deactivated by biomass-tar, hence the reason it was impregnated with Fe along with Mayenite which was present on the surface of the catalyst's support as evidenced by the result from characterization. As a promoter, CeO2 improves nickel's resistance to carbon deposits while also boosting its sulfur tolerance. The activity of the catalyst was also monitored at varying space velocities, temperatures, steam to carbon ratios, residence times and particle sizes. The production of H2-rich gas was achieved at 1000 °C using 30 wt% of the catalyst.

Experimental and artificial intelligence study on catalytic reforming of tar over bio-char surface coupled with hydrogen production

Tar problem is an obstacle in biomass gasification. Naphthalene was used as tar model compound to investigate the tar catalytic removal over char bed coupled with hydrogen production. The influence of char properties, residence time and atmosphere on tar reduction was taken into consideration. Results show pinewood char acted as quite good performance for catalytic removal of naphthalene. With the increasing of duration time, deactivation would occur, which brought down the tar conversion efficiency. The addition of H2O could inhibit the carbon deposition and promote hydrogen yield via in-situ gasification. At 800 °C, the naphthalene conversion rate slightly declined to 95.77% even at 182 min under 10% steam atmosphere. The H2 yield was around 8.98 mol/(mole of naphthalene) at initial 12 min. The pinewood char pore analysis results confirmed the inhibition of carbon deposition by steam. Artificial neural network (ANN) models coupled with genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) were built for prediction of naphthalene conversion and hydrogen yield. The BET surface area, potassium content, penetration time, duration time, temperature and atmosphere were used as input variables. Modeling results show that the PSO-ANN model and relative impact analysis could be effectively used for modeling and analysis of tar catalytic conversion over char bed.

Review of Porous Ceramics for Hot Gas Cleanup of Biomass Syngas Using Catalytic Ceramic Filters to Produce Green Hydrogen/Fuels/Chemicals

Biomass gasification is one of the most promising routes to produce green hydrogen, power, fuels, and chemicals, which has drawn much attention as the world moves away from fossil fuels. Syngas produced from gasification needs to go through an essential gas cleanup step for the removal of tars and particulates for further processing, which is one of the cost-inducing steps. Existing hot gas cleanup strategies involve the particulate removal step followed by catalytic tar reforming, which could be integrated into a single unit operation using porous ceramics owing to their advantages including high-temperature resistance, high corrosion resistance, flexibility, and robust mechanical integrity. Ceramic filters have proven to be effective at filtering particulates from hot gas streams in various applications including combustion, incineration, gasification, and pyrolysis. These materials have also been evaluated and used to an extent as catalyst support to remove contaminants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and in particular, tars, however, the use of these ceramic materials to remove both tars and particulates in one unit has not received much attention, although it has a promising potential to be a cost-effective hot gas cleanup strategy. Thus, this review presents the ability of catalytic ceramic filters to boost energy efficiency by converting unwanted byproducts while simultaneously eliminating PM in a single unit and is shown to be valuable in industrial processes across the board. This article presents a comprehensive and systematic overview and current state of knowledge of the use of porous ceramics for catalytic hot gas filtration applications with an emphasis on biomass syngas cleanup. In addition, a similar strategy for other applications such as combustion exhaust streams is presented. Prospects and challenges of taking this approach, and the necessary research and development to advance the novel use of reactive ceramic filters within biomass-fed thermal systems are presented. Major challenges include the low surface area of the ceramic filter media and high-pressure drop across the filter media, which can be overcome by wash coating or dip coating mechanisms and porosity tailored to meet the requirements. Owing to limited R&D efforts in this area, a systematic approach toward developing these integrated hot gas filtration systems is much needed, which will ultimately contribute to cost-effective green hydrogen production.

Enhanced tar removal in syngas cleaning through integrated steam catalytic tar reforming and adsorption using biochar

Steam catalytic tar reforming (SCTR) using biochar is a popular technique for tar removal in syngas cleaning. However, its efficacy drops while treating syngas at low temperatures (<750 °C) typically encountered in fluidized or downdraft gasifiers. This work proposes integrating an adsorption section post reforming, that operates at a relatively lower temperature (220 °C) to additionally remove the light tar components using biochar. The integrated approach was assessed for the removal of mallee-wood generated tar using mallee-wood biochar as catalyst and adsorbent. Tar yield estimates revealed overall removal by ∼80 %, with reforming contributing ∼40 % and adsorption ∼60 % of the residual tar. Elaborate tar analysis based on UV-spectroscopy proved substantial removal of light tar compounds in the two-step process. Biochar structural analysis based on Raman spectroscopy revealed a growing predominance of higher aromatics in adsorbent during biochar-volatile interactions, due to adsorption of both heavy and light tar compounds. The evolution trends were validated by correlating the specific reactivity of utilized biochar samples based on thermogravimetric analysis. Biochar morphological analysis through BET analysis showed a steep drop in surface area from 101.40 to 0.043 m2/g, implying pore surface coverage by tar compounds which were also evident from FESEM images.

Regeneration of deactivated biochar for catalytic tar reforming by partial oxidation: Effect of oxygen concentration and regeneration time

The regeneration of the catalytic activity of deactivated biochar is critical in the reforming of biomass tar. In this paper, the regeneration effects of partial oxidation on biochar’s catalytic activity for tar reforming were explored. The catalytic activity of regenerated biochar was verified using a single-stage three sieve plate reaction system. The biochar physicochemical structure was characterised by N2 adsorption, Raman, FTIR and TG analysis. The tar fraction was analysed by GC–MS and the generation of the gas phase fraction was detected online by a synthetic gas analyzer. The results demonstrate that oxidative regeneration can effectively recover the catalytic activity of biochar and promote the production of CH4 and H2. After oxidative regeneration, the external surface area and the microporous area of biochar increase significantly. In addition, the O-containing structures on regenerated biochar become more abundant. The recovery rate of the catalytic activity of RB-0.4-7 is 108.1% and its comprehensive efficiency reaches a maximum of 79.1%. This indicates that the regeneration of deactivated biochar is most efficient when 0.4% oxygen is supplied for 7 min, taking into account the catalytic activity of regenerated biochar and its weight loss rate during the regeneration. The yield of CH4 and H2 catalyzed by regenerated biochar is increased compared with SB. Considering the gas generation in catalytic reforming, a regeneration time of 9 min at the oxygen concentration of 0.4% is considered to be the optimum regeneration condition for deactivated biochar.

Roles of AAEMs in catalytic reforming of biomass pyrolysis tar and coke accumulation characteristics over biochar surface for H2 production

Coke formation is a significant challenge in catalytic tar reforming. AAEMs are essential in the conversion and decomposition of tar catalyzed by biochar. In this paper, four biochar catalysts with different K and Ca contents were prepared by acid washing and loading, and the coke accumulation characteristics in catalytic tar reforming at 650 °C were investigated using a single-stage reaction system. The gas-liquid-solid products were characterized by GC-MS, Raman, N2 adsorption, FTIR and TG. The results suggest that K-loaded biochar has a maximum tar reforming capacity of 94.9%, while H-form biochar has a tar removal efficiency of only 27.8%. The micropore area in biochar is considerably reduced and the average pore size is increased after coke deposition. While K-loaded biochar retains the highest micropore area, it also exhibits a smaller increase in average pore size. The loading of K/Ca affects the growth structure of the coke, resulting in an increased number of O-containing structures in it. The coke on the Raw biochar surface is mainly small aromatic ring structures and aliphatic structures, thus increasing the intensity of the vibrational peaks corresponding to aromatic = C–H and aliphatic C–H on it. The coke on K-loaded biochar has a large proportion of aliphatic structures, which also contributes to the reduced graphitization of it after reforming. The AAEMs-free biochar surface preferentially removes tar components carrying O-containing groups. K-loaded biochar preferentially catalyzes the reforming of mono-aromatic ring components in tar. Ca-loaded biochar preferentially removes the mono-aromatic ring components, while being less selective for the removal of tar components containing hydroxyl groups and polyaromatic ring components. The loading of K/Ca promotes the dehydrogenation of the tar fraction during reforming, while only K catalyzes the deoxygenation of tar components. H-form biochar has no appreciable catalytic activity on CH4 cracking. AAEMs have a catalytic activity on CH4 cracking. K is particularly effective in improving tar conversion and hydrogen production of biochar.

Catalytic reforming of tar and volatiles from walnut shell pyrolysis over a novel Ni/olivine/La2O3 supported on ZrO2

The effect of catalytic reforming of volatiles from pyrolysis of walnut shell using an innovative catalyst was investigated in this study. The analysis was conducted in a two-stage fixed bed reactor operated at 700–1100 °C. The prepared Ni/olivine/La2O3/ZrO2 catalyst had a significant performance on the catalytic tar reforming reactions. In the catalytic reforming of tar, the weight of catalyst is critical. However, it was observed that the tar reforming efficiency increased with increase in catalyst-weight and temperature. In addition, the highest tar reforming efficiency (98.9%) was attained with 20 g of Ni/olivine/La2O3/ZrO2. After 4 cycles of regeneration, tar reforming efficiency was kept stable. The product gas composition was highest at 1100 °C with a very low tar yield, which reduced from 18.1 to 2.1 wt% at 700–1100 °C. At varying reforming conditions, the product gas composition increased. The product-gas distribution varied at different steam flow rates (3–9 mL/h) as well as particle size (0.2–3.5 mm) and the highest yield was achieved with the smallest particle size (0.2 mm) of walnut shell thus confirming the superb catalytic activity of Ni/olivine/La2O3/ZrO2 for tar reformation into gases owing to high dispersion of ZrO2 in the shells.

Characteristics of Tar Catalytic Reforming by Char in a Micro Fluidized Bed Reaction Analyzer and the Kinetics of Gas Component Generation

Characteristics of Tar Catalytic Reforming by Char in a Micro Fluidized Bed Reaction Analyzer and the Kinetics of Gas Component Generation

Pilot-scale development of pressurized fixed-bed gasification for synthesis gas production from biomass residues

Advanced transportation biofuels have been the focus of intensive development since the early 2000s, and gasification in combination with synthesis technologies represents a flexible production pathway to deliver fuels for heavy-duty transport sectors that are difficult to electrify. This article is related to the pilot-scale development of a process concept aiming to smaller-scale production plants than are feasible with fluidized-bed gasifiers. Five test weeks with a total gasification time of 347 h were realized at a pilot plant that consisted of the pressurized staged fixed-bed gasifier, raw gas cooling to 500–600 °C, filtration with robust metal filters, and catalytic reforming of tars and methane. The gasifier combined an updraft primary stage and a catalytically enhanced secondary stage where most of the updraft tars were decomposed. The tar content of the product gas, 2–12 g/m3, was of the same order of magnitude as determined previously for fluidized-bed gasifiers. Consequently, similar filtration and reforming methods could be successfully applied. After the reformer, the contents of C2-hydrocarbon gases and high-molecular-weight tars were negligible.

Insights into the mechanism of tar reforming using biochar as a catalyst

Biochar is an efficient catalyst for tar removal from syngas during biomass gasification. The aim of this research is to investigate the mechanism of tar reforming using biochar as a catalyst. A series of in situ steam tar reforming experiments were carried out using a two-stage fluidized-bed/fixed-bed reactor at 800 °C. Mallee wood biochar (106–250 μm) was activated in 15 vol% H2O balanced with Ar for different times (0–50 min) and then used as a catalyst for tar reforming. The on-line gas composition, light tar composition and the pore structure of biochar were analysed using mass spectrometer (MS), GC–MS and synchrotron small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) respectively. An increased ratio of H2/CO was observed after reforming with biochar compared to reforming without biochar. The destruction of light tar compounds, especially the non-oxygen-containing compounds, was significantly enhanced when activated biochars were used. Steam activation increased the specific surface area (SSA), micro- and mesopore volumes in biochar while the values stayed almost unchanged during tar reforming. Results indicate that the micro- and mesopores in biochar promote the diffusion of both small and large tar molecules into the internal surface of biochar. However, the catalytic activity of biochar for tar reforming mainly depends on the content of O-containing functional groups in biochar. The O-containing functional groups facilitate the dissociation of tar molecules to form tar radicals, giving rise to the enhanced tar removal efficiency. Moreover, the formation of tar radicals over O-containing functional groups appears as the rate-limiting step in the process of catalytic reforming of tar over biochar catalysts.

Synthesis of biomimetic monolithic biochar-based catalysts for catalytic decomposition of biomass pyrolysis tar

Catalytic reforming of tar is an urgent technique for fuel gas production from biomass. In this paper, using monolith pinewood as the raw material, biomimetic monolithic biochar-based catalysts with the inherited 3D porous structure were prepared via simple impregnation and carbonization to explore their catalytic performance on biomass pyrolysis tar decomposition. Regular flow-through channels (20–50 μm) were achieved in the axial direction of the catalysts with irregular pores in the cross direction. High-density and well-dispersed Ni0 nanoparticles were formed and encapsulated on the wall of channels by in-situ reactions during biomass carbonization. The channels ensured the quick passing through of the gas flow and thus the diffusion steps could be effectively reduced, thereby reducing the coke deposition and aggregation of Ni particles. Based on their unique structure, the catalysts exhibited high activity and good stability for the biomass tar decomposition. At 800 °C, the catalyst (PC@0.3Ni) reached a high tar conversion of over 92% with excellent stability during five consecutive tests, leading to a higher yield of the product gas, especially the yields of H2 and CO. The distribution of Ni nanoparticles on the spent PC@0.3Ni was almost the same as the fresh catalyst with a similar particle size range.

Comparison of tar thermal cracking and catalytic reforming by char in a micro fluidized bed reaction analyzer

In this study, a micro fluidized bed reactor analyzer (MFBRA) was adopted to test the isothermal reaction characteristics of tar catalytic reforming by char and thermal cracking by quartz sand from 1023 to 1223 K. The behaviors of tar conversion, the evolution of gaseous products generation, and the corresponding reaction kinetics were comprehensively analyzed. Compared to thermal cracking, the yield of catalytic cracking is higher. It can not only promote the tar conversion but also upgrade the fuel gas quality even at a low temperature of 1023 K, especially for CO, CH4, CO2, and C3H6. The tested activation energies (Ea) of tar conversion and gas generation (CH4, C2H6, C3H6, H2, CO2, and CO) in catalytic reforming were about 60.27, 45.48, 56.22, 71.34, 62.35, 51.51, and 60.75 kJ/mol, respectively, corresponding that of 78.16, 63.19, 71.16, 83.19, 84.33, 90.81 and 130.72 kJ/mol in thermal cracking. The lower Ea indicated the good catalytic activity of char on tar conversion and the change of gas generation paths by choosing char as a catalyst. Finally, the kinetics was compared with the results in the literature to verify the feasibility of MFBRA and the accuracy of testing results. This research deepened the understanding of tar catalytic reforming by char and was beneficial for developing a biomass gasification process with low tar generation.

Kinetic Characterization of Tar Reforming on Commercial Ni-Catalyst Pellets Used for In Situ Syngas Cleaning in Biomass Gasification: Experiments and Simulations under Process Conditions.

Filtering-catalytic candles, filled with an annular packed-bed of commercial Ni-catalyst pellets (∼600 g), were successfully tested for in situ syngas cleaning in a fluidized-bed biomass steam gasifier [Fuel Process. Technol.2019, 191, 44−53, DOI: 10.1016/j.fuproc.2019.03.018]. Those tests enabled the macroscopic evaluation of gasification and gas cleaning as a whole, requiring a more specific assessment of the catalyst performance inside the filter candle. To this end, steam reforming tests of tar key compounds (naphthalene and toluene; thiophene in traces to observe sulfur deactivation) were performed with a laboratory-scale packed-bed reactor containing the same catalyst pellets (<7 g). A lumped kinetics was derived, referred to a pseudocomponent representing tars. This was then validated by simulation of the annular catalytic packed bed inside the filter candle, obtaining numerical results in fair agreement with gasifier outputs. As a result, the lab-scale investigation with a small amount of catalyst provides reliable predictions of tar catalytic reforming in industrial-scale filtering-catalytic candles.

Análisis de la gasificación y reformado de alquitrán con carbón y vapor generado in-situ

Biomass gasification has an overwhelming potential to satisfy the world’s energy needs. However, the technology is constrained by the formation of tars and the costs associated to their eradication. However, moisture, an intrinsic part of biomass, and char, a regular product from gasification, can contribute to tar removal via steam reforming. This work presents an analysis, based on numerical simulations, to elaborate a concept where the steam and char released from gasification are used to reform the produced tars. Results indicate that when the amount of moisture in wood biomass is 8% or more, at adequate temperatures (around 1073 K) the produced steam volume meets the necessary criteria for char catalytic tar reforming. On the side of char, calculations indicate that more than double the char necessary to achieve 0.5 seconds residence time in a bed is produced during each run. Moreover, it was found that moisture in biomass leads to increases in the Lower Heating Value of the produced gas and decreases in the tar contents. Based on theoretical calculations, the concept appears promising and should be subject to experimentation.