Hydrogen-rich gas production from biomass catalytic gasification using hot blast furnace slag as heat carrier and catalyst in moving-bed reactor

A new concept that a heat recovery system from blast furnace (BF) slag which would generate hydrogen-rich gas was proposed and a continuous moving-bed biomass gasification reactor was designed to evaluate the feasibility. The influences of temperature and particle size of BF slag on gasification product distribution and gas characterization were discussed. The results show that BF slag demonstrated better catalytic performance in improving tar cracking, enhancing char gasification and reforming of hydrocarbons; higher BF slag temperature and smaller particles size can produce more light gases, less char and condensate; as temperature of BF slag being 1200 °C and its size below 2 mm, gas yield and H2 content achieved the maximum being 1.28 N m3/kg and 46.54%, respectively.

► Hydrogen was produced by biomass gasification using BF slag as heat carrier.
► The catalytic activity of BF slag in biomass gasification was investigated.
► Effects of temperature and particle size of BF slag on gasification were studied.