Fe/olivine catalyst for biomass steam gasification: Preparation, characterization and testing at real process conditions

Continuous steam gasification of biomass is carried out in a fluidized bed reactor with the utilization of 10 wt%Fe/olivine catalyst. The volume composition of the product gas is analyzed by means of IR, UV and TCD for online detection of CO, CO2, CH4, H2, NH3 and H2S. The results obtained have been evaluated with reference to a blank test (olivine bed inventory) performed with the same experimental rig: when 10 wt%Fe/olivine is utilized in the gasifier, the gas yield increases on average by 40% and the hydrogen yield by 88%. Correspondingly, the methane content in the syngas is reduced by 16% and tar production per kg of dry ash free (daf) biomass by 46%. 10 wt%Fe/olivine characterization after test shows that the catalyst is fairly stable.