Bio-syngas production from biomass catalytic gasification

Pengmei Lv*, Zhenhong Yuan, Chuangzhi Wu, Longlong Ma, Yong Chen, Noritatsu Tsubaki

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

308 Scopus citations

Abstract

A promising application for biomass is liquid fuel synthesis, such as methanol or dimethyl ether (DME). Previous studies have studied syngas production from biomass-derived char, oil and gas. This study intends to explore the technology of syngas production from direct biomass gasification, which may be more economically viable. The ratio of H2/CO is an important factor that affects the performance of this process. In this study, the characteristics of biomass gasification gas, such as H2/CO and tar yield, as well as its potential for liquid fuel synthesis is explored. A fluidized bed gasifier and a downstream fixed bed are employed as the reactors. Two kinds of catalysts: dolomite and nickel based catalyst are applied, and they are used in the fluidized bed and fixed bed, respectively. The gasifying agent used is an air-steam mixture. The main variables studied are temperature and weight hourly space velocity in the fixed bed reactor. Over the ranges of operating conditions examined, the maximum H2 content reaches 52.47 vol%, while the ratio of H2/CO varies between 1.87 and 4.45. The results indicate that an appropriate temperature (750 °C for the current study) and more catalyst are favorable for getting a higher H2/CO ratio. Using a simple first order kinetic model for the overall tar removal reaction, the apparent activation energies and pre-exponential factors are obtained for nickel based catalysts. The results indicate that biomass gasification gas has great potential for liquid fuel synthesis after further processing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1132-1139
Number of pages8
JournalEnergy Conversion and Management
Volume48
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2007/04

Keywords

  • Biomass
  • Catalytic gasification
  • Syngas

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Nuclear Energy and Engineering
  • Fuel Technology
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Bio-syngas production from biomass catalytic gasification'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this