Biomass Catalytic Pyrolysis with Ni Based Catalyst to Produce Hydrogen Rich Gas

Hydrogen rich gas was produced using rice husk as biomass material on the continuous biomass pyrolysis apparatus which consisted of continuous pyrolysis reactor and secondary catalytic cracking reactor. Ni based catalysts of different Ni/Al mass ratio and calcined temperature were prepared by impregnating method. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electron microscope (SEM) and FT-IR Spectrometer (FT-IR). Ni based catalyst showed good selectivity for H2 production from biomass. Catalysts prepared under different conditions had little influence on the yields of three states products when used at the same cracking temperature. Ni/Al mass ratio played an important role in products selectivity. However, the content of NiO increased further when Ni/Al mass ratio values reached 0.7 : 10, and the yield of H2 slightly increased. Hydrogen yield was greatly impacted by calcined temperature. Catalyst calcined at 550℃ performed best. When the catalyst was calcined at high temperature, NiO in the catalyst transformed into NiAl2O4, and the acid site also changed, which caused the deactivation of the catalyst. The hydrogen yield increased with the cracking temperature. The highest stable yield of hydrogen was about 30% without increasing with the cracking temperature.