Steam Reforming of Tar Produced from Biomass Gasification Using Ni/Ru-X/Al2O3(X=K or Mn) Catalyst

Steam reforming of tar produced from biomass gasification was conducted using several Ni-based catalysts. In lab- scale, the catalytic steam reforming of toluene which is a major component of biomass tar was studied. A fixed bed reactor was used at various temperatures of 400-800 ℃. Ru (0.6 wt%) and Mn or K (1 wt%) were applied as a promoter in Ni based catalysts. Generally, Ni/Ru-K/Al2O3 catalyst shows higher performance on steam reforming of toluene than Ni/Ru-Mn/Al2O3 catalyst. Used catalysts were analyzed by XRD and TGA to detect sintering and carbon deposition. Base on the lab-scale studies, the monolith and pellet type catalysts were tested in 1 ton/day scale biomass gasification system. Ni/Ru-K/Al2O3 monolith catalyst shows high tar reforming performance at high temperature. In addition, Ni/Ru-Mn/Al2O3 monolith catalyst was showed deactivation with operation time. Reforming performance of Ni/Ru-K/Al2O3 pellet catalyst which showed 66.7% tar conversion at 587 ℃ was compared to regenerated one. Overall, Ni/Ru-K/Al2O3 pellet catalyst shows higher stability and performance than other used catalysts.