Renewable Production of Methane from Woody Biomass by Catalytic Hydrothermal Gasification

• Published in: Industrial & engineering chemistry research Vol. 44; no. 13; pp. 4543 - 4551
• Main Authors: Waldner, Maurice H, Vogel, Frédéric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 22.06.2005
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Catalysis; Catalytic reactions; Chemical engineering; Chemistry; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; Reactors; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry; Catalytic reaction; Gasification; Biomass; Production
• ISSN: 0888-5885; 1520-5045
• DOI: 10.1021/ie050161h

Production of synthetic natural gas (SNG) from wood by a catalytic hydrothermal process was studied in a laboratory batch reactor suitable for high feed concentrations (10−30 wt %) at 300−410 °C and 12−34 MPa with Raney nickel as the catalyst. A maximum methane yield of 0.33 (g of CH4)/(g of wood) was obtained, corresponding to the thermodynamic equilibrium yield. The carbon gasification efficiency was a function of the reaction time, and for reaction times long enough (∼90 min), complete gasification was achieved. At supercritical conditions, the remaining liquid phase always was tar-free, was colorless, and contained less than 2 wt % of the feed carbon. Analysis of the spent catalyst revealed a slight increase of carbonaceous deposits on the surface (15 atom % vs 10 atom % for the fresh catalyst).