This paper presents the changes of behavior and the characteristics of used paper carbonized at various temperatures up to 1, 000°C, and utilization of charcoal made from used paper, as a cultivation material for mushroom growing. The weight of the used paper decreased when heated, mainly in the temperature range from 250°C to 400°C. The used paper shrunk around the similar temperature. However, the temperature that shrinkage started was 20°C higher than the temperature that weight decrease started. The charcoal made from used paper had two types of pores, pores between fibers and pores in fibers. Pores between fibers were created at temperatures of less than 400°C, which was evident after the remarkable weight decreases had finished. Bulk density influenced the formation of the pore between fibers. Pore volume and pore diameter decreased with increased bulk density. Pleuroutus ostreatus was able to be cultivated on charcoal made from used paper. The occurrence of fruit bodies and the mycelial growth in the charcoal was greater in charcoal that had a low bulk density and high moisture content. Therefore, charcoal made from used paper is a good medium for cultivating various kinds of fungi.

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The conventional methods of biomass gasification to hydrogen and synthesis gas have been carried out at high temperature. The purpose of this study is catalyst development for energy efficient power generation by catalytic gasification of biomass at lower reaction temperature. We have tested Rh/CeO₂/SiO₂ catalysts with various CeO₂ content in cellulose gasification. We have found that the optimum content was 35wt% CeO₂. From the comparison between our catalyst and conventional methods (steam reforming Ni catalyst, dolomite, noncatalyst) in terms of C-conversion to gas and cold gas effi-ciency, Rh/CeO₂/SiO₂ (35) catalyst exhibited much higher performance than other methods. It is suggest-ed that our catalyst can enhance the energy efficiency of power generation utilizing biomass gasification.

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