Production of hydrogen-rich syngas from catalytic reforming of biomass gasification tar model compounds coupled with in-situ CO2 capture

Abstract

Biomass gasification for hydrogen production has received widespread attention in recent years as a sustainable energy technology. However, the biomass gasification process produces tar. This can seriously affect subsequent gas cleaning and utilization. In this study, toluene was used as a tar model compound. The effects of different catalyst carriers, reforming temperatures, S/C ratio, and in-situ CO₂ capture on the yield of toluene steam reforming were investigated. The results showed that under the same working conditions, the hydrogen yield of the SiC carrier catalyst was much higher than that of the SiO₂ and Al₂O₃ carriers. This is due to the excellent thermal conductivity and suitable acid-base properties of the SiC carrier. CaO could effectively adsorb CO₂ and increase the hydrogen yield. The hydrogen yield reached 90.63 % with the addition of 0.3 g of CaO, which was 13.7 % higher than that without the addition of CaO. In addition, to investigate the structural changes and chemical state of the catalysts, the differences between the catalysts before and after use were analyzed using a variety of characterization methods. This study provides critical insights into the design of efficient catalysts and processes for overcoming the challenges associated with biomass-derived tar.