2009 Volume 42 Issue 1 Pages 51-57
Our work focuses on developing nickel loaded brown coal char as a new catalyst to decompose tar and to enhance quality of product gas delivered from woody biomass pyrolysis at relatively low temperatures of 823 K and 923 K. It is carried out in a two-stage fixed-bed reactor and a lab scale fluidized bed gasifier (FBG) under various conditions. Inside of gasifier is constructed by two beds, the primary one is a fluidized bed with sand, and the second one is a catalyst bed. The catalyst bed is used to evaluate and to compare catalytic activity between the new catalyst and a conventional Ni/Al2O3 catalyst. The new catalyst is prepared by ion exchange method, dried at 380 K in nitrogen for 24 h, and is then calcined at 923 K in nitrogen for 90 min. The temperature as a function of gas yield and the effect of catalysts on gas yield in presence and absence of steam are investigated in this study. The new catalyst has shown high catalytic activity and stable activity and given the high quality of product gas in presence of steam.
