Low Temperature Gasification of Biomass Using Ni-Loaded Brown Coal

Catalytic gasification of a woody biomass and a livestock waste were investigated under a prepared nickel-loaded brown coal (LY-Ni) char in a two-stage fixed-bed reactor. The nickel- loaded brown coal was prepared by ion-exchange method with a nickel loading rate of 8.3 wt.%. Nickel species dispersed well in the brown coal, and the LY-Ni char via devolatilization at 600°C showed a great porous property with a specific surface area of 382 m2 g−1. The LY-Ni char was confirmed to be quite active for the biomass volatiles gasification at a relatively low-temperature range from 450 to 650°C. It is noteworthy that almost all the nitrogen-containing products (NH3, HCN and N-containing liquids) in biomass waste gasification were converted to N2 in the case of LY-Ni char. The novel Ni-loaded coal char was also applied as catalyst in an internally circulating fluidized-bed gasifier (ICFG). The results show that ICFG can operate well by using nickel catalysts and LY-Ni char has a better ability and a hopeful prospect for the stability with coking resistance in comparison to the commercial nickel catalyst Ni/Al2O3.