Catalytic gasification of lignite in supercritical water with Ru/CeO2–ZrO2

Abstract A series of CeO 2 –ZrO 2 (CZ) supported Ru catalysts were prepared and employed to catalytic gasification of lignite in supercritical water (SCW). The influences of Ru content, catalyst loading, reaction temperature and feed concentration on gasification of lignite were investigated. Results indicated that Ru 2 /CZ shows high activity for gasification of lignite and hydrogen production. At 500 °C and 17 min with a 2 wt% loading of lignite and a 2 g/g catalyst loading, carbon gasification efficiency about 86% has been achieved and the highest H 2 yield (29.24 mol/kg) has been produced, representing nearly 21-fold enhancement of yield compared to that in the noncatalytic case. The kinetic study in terms of overall reaction rate was investigated and the activation energy Ea is 130 ± 26 kJ/mol. Furthermore, catalyst recycling experiments were conducted in order to evaluate the stability of Ru 2 /CZ catalyst. The results and XPS data indicate that ZrO 2 enhance the stability of the catalyst. Thus, the Ru 2 /CZ catalyst seems to be a promising material for SCWG of lignite for gas fuels, especially for hydrogen.