Hydrogen-Rich Syngas Production through SynergisticMethane-Activated Catalytic Biomass Gasification

Abstract

The abundance of natural gas and biomass in the U.S. was the motivation to investigate the effect of adding methane to catalytic non-oxidative high-temperature biomass gasification. The catalyst used in this study was Fe-Mo / ZSM-5. Methane concentration varied from 5 vol. % to 15 vol. % and the reaction was performed at 850oC and 950oC. While biomass gasification without methane on the same catalysts produced ~60 mole% methane in the total gas yield, methane addition had a strong effect on the biomass gasification, with more than 80 mole% hydrogen in the product gas. This indicates that the reverse Steam Methane Reformation (SMR) reaction is favored in the absence of additional methane in the gas feed as the formation of H2 and CO shifts the equilibrium to the left. Results showed that 5 mole% of additional methane in the feed gas allowed for steam methane reforming due to formation of steam adsorbates from oxygen in the functional groups of aromatic lignin being liberated on the oxophilic transition met...