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Catalytic reforming of tar using corncob char and char-supported potassium catalysts

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Abstract

This work aims to investigate the importance of biomass char and the metal oxides in the ash in tar cracking during the volatile–char interactions. Experiments were carried out in a two-stage fixed reactor, and corncob, one typical agricultural biomass rich in potassium, was chosen as raw material. Results showed that char and char-supported potassium catalysts have good activity for tar elimination due to the good absorbability of char and catalytic property of potassium. In particular, tar conversion efficiency can reach 95.8% by using 1.5 K-char catalyst at 700 °C. The reforming reactions can be significantly enhanced during the volatile–char interactions in the presence of char and char-supported potassium catalysts. As a result, the syngas yield increased significantly with increasing temperature and supported K+, particularly the combustible gases including H2, CO and CH4. Physical and chemical structure of char changed due to reforming reactions related to the carbon, while the content of potassium was almost unchanged.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51406226).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electrical and Power Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, People’s Republic of China

    Feiqiang Guo, Yuan Liu, Yang Liu & Chenglong Guo

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  1. Feiqiang Guo
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  2. Yuan Liu
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  3. Yang Liu
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  4. Chenglong Guo
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Correspondence to Feiqiang Guo.

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Guo, F., Liu, Y., Liu, Y. et al. Catalytic reforming of tar using corncob char and char-supported potassium catalysts. J Therm Anal Calorim 130, 1297–1306 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6420-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-017-6420-3

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