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Title: Review of Novel Catalysts for Biomass Tar Cracking and Methane Reforming

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/926121· OSTI ID:926121

A review of the literature was conducted to examine the performance of catalysts other than conventional nickel catalysts, and alkaline earth and olivine based catalysts for treating hot raw product gas from a biomass gasifier to convert methane and tars into synthesis gas. Metal catalysts other than Ni included precious metals Rh, Ru, Ir, Pt, and Pd, as well as Cu, Co, and Fe in limited testing. Nickel catalysts promoted with Rh, Zr, Mn, Mo, Ti, Ag, or Sn were also examined, as were Ni catalysts on Ce2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, SiO2, and La2O3. In general, Rh stood out as a consistently superior metal catalyst for methane reforming, tar cracking, and minimizing carbon buildup on the catalyst. Ru and Ir also showed significant improvement over Ni for methane reforming. Ceria stood out as good support material and particularly good promoter material when added in small quantities to another support material such as alumina, zirconia, or olivine. Other promising supports were lanthana, zirconia, and titania.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
926121
Report Number(s):
PNNL-16950; BM0101010; TRN: US200807%%597
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English