Natural zeolite catalyst for tar removal in biomass gasification Systems: Kinetics and effectiveness evaluation

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) Vol. 346; p. 128393
• Main Authors: Abu El-Rub, Ziad, Halawa, Dina, Alqudah, Iman, Nasr, Abdullah, Naqvi, Muhammad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.08.2023
• Subjects: Biomass gasification; Clean fuels; Effectiveness evaluation; Kinetics; Natural zeolite catalyst; Tar removal; FID; Tar removal; Effectiveness evaluation; Clean fuels; SPA; FCC; XRF; TGA; BET; Biomass gasification; TCD; SFCC; SEM; Natural zeolite catalyst; Kinetics; GC
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2023.128393

•Catalytic and thermal toluene removal was performed in fixed bed reactor.•Kinetic parameters of thermal cracking and catalytic conversion of toluene were examined.•Thermal cracking, carbonization, and catalytic conversion reactions occur simultaneously.•Coke formation occurred at all tested temperatures (700–900 °C).•For catalytic conversion, activation energy was 62.1 kJ/mol and frequency factor was 3.16 × 103 s−1. This research aims to study abundant Jordanian zeolite in its natural form as a catalyst to eliminate tar, modelled by toluene, from gasification systems. Natural zeolite was characterized using TGA, BET, XRF, SEM and particle size analysis. The pseudo first-order kinetic parameters of thermal cracking and catalytic conversion reactions of toluene were determined at temperatures of 700 °C, 800 °C and 900 °C. It was found that thermal cracking, carbonization, and dry reforming reactions took place simultaneously. Natural zeolite achieved a greater degree of toluene conversion than that achieved with the thermal cracking, with the highest value of 79 % at 900 °C. The activation energy of the catalytic conversion of toluene reaction was found to be 62.1 kJ/mol while that of thermal cracking of toluene to be 85.0 kJ/mol. The presence of the catalyst lowered the activation energy. The thermal cracking test had a frequency factor of 1.5432 × 104 s−1, while the test employing Jordanian zeolite to catalyze the conversion of toluene had a frequency factor of 3.1754 × 103 s−1. Natural Jordanian zeolite proved to be a suitable catalyst that can be used in tar reforming processes in gasification systems, especially at 800 °C.