Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in a fluidized-bed reactor promoted by an Fe/CaO catalyst

Biomass gasification for hydrogen production was performed in a continuous-feeding fluidized-bed with the use of Fe/CaO catalysts. The relationship between catalyst properties and biomass gasification efficiencies was studied. The findings indicated that only CaO was involved in the enhancement of char gasification, resulting in an increased hydrogen production. However, CaO was also easily deactivated by biomass tar. The characterization results indicated that when CaO was impregnated with Fe, Ca2Fe2O5 formed on the surface of the support. Ca2Fe2O5 decomposed polyaromatic tar but was not effective in char gasification. The synergistic effects between Fe and CaO that effectively enhanced biomass gasification mainly involved combustion and pyrolysis, and the biomass gasification products, i.e., char and tar, were further gasified, indicating that tailor-made Fe/CaO catalysts prevented CaO deactivation by tar, thus promoting biomass gasification and hydrogen production.

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► Sawdust was gasified with less char formation with the assistance of CaO.
► Ca2Fe2O5, as the main reactive sites, decomposed polyaromatic tar.
► Ca2Fe2O5, as a protection, prevented CaO deactivation by biomass tar.
► Fe/CaO catalyst with well-designed enhanced H2 production and biomass gasification.