2008 Volume 41 Issue 12 Pages 1143-1148
The presence of tars during biomass gasification is a major problem in the gas-processing systems and internal combustion engines. In order to develop a technology for the reduction of tars at low temperatures, the reactivity of active oxygen species O– in the oxidative decomposition of biomass tars using a 12CaO·7Al2O3 (C12A7) crystal was investigated experimentally. The C12A7 was used as a less expensive carrier of O– radicals. Tars were produced from pyrolyzed wood chips at 1273 K and decomposed in the presence of C12A7/O– in a stream of pure nitrogen gas at 623–673 K. The results showed that the tars could be oxidized in the presence of C12A7/O– at a temperature of 623 K or above, which may not be achievable by other methods.
