Commercial steam reforming catalysts to improve biomass gasification with steam-oxygen mixtures. 2. Catalytic tar removal

Eight different commercial catalysts, nickel based, for steam reforming of naphthas and of natural gas are tested in biomass gasification for hot gas cleanup and conditioning. They were manufactured by BASF AG, ICI-Katalco, UCI, and Haldor Topsoe a/s. The catalysts were tested in a slip flow after a biomass gasifier of fluidized bed type at small pilot-plant scale (10-20 kg of biomass/h). The gasifying agent used is steam-oxygen mixtures. A guard bed containing a calcined dolomite is used to decrease the tar content in the gas at the inlet of the catalytic bed. Main variables studied are catalyst type, bed temperature, H(2)O + O(2) to biomass feed ratio, and time-on-stream. All catalysts for reforming of naphthas show to be very active and useful for tar removal and gas conditioning tin biomass gasification). 98% tar removal is easily obtained with space velocities of 14 000 h(-1) (n.c.). No catalysts deactivation is found in 48 h-on-stream tests when the catalyst temperature is relatively high (780-830 degrees C). Using a simple first-order kinetic model for the overall tar removal reaction, apparent energies of activation (of around 58 kJ/mol) and preexponential factors are obtained for the most active catalysts.