Reaction characteristics through catalytic steam gasification with ultra clean coal char and coal

The direct production of methane through steam–coal gasification processing using a catalyst is one of the most attractive routes for the effective utilization of coal. In this study, a thermobalance was used to verify basic characteristics of carbon and steam reactivity using the ultra clean coal (UCC) char of Roto South with potassium carbonate at different conditions. The reactivity between carbon and steam was the highest at 800 °C, with catalyst (K2CO3) addition, 10 wt%, and the steam flow rate of 500 ml/min. At the optimized condition of thermobalance, syngas components of Roto South coal, which were produced in fixed-bed reactor, were observed through a Non-dispersive infrared sensor (NDIR) for 60 min. Methane concentration among the produced gases highly accounted for 36 vol% at 6 min. The volatile matter (VM) of coal was related to high methane production. From the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results, the crystallinity structure of K2CO3 was detected, as other potassium salts form, after 20 min.