Combined molten salt–Ni/Al2O3 as synergistic medium for high-quality syngas production

• The combined medium of molten salt and Ni/Al2O3 was investigated.
• The combined medium could increase H2 yield by 3-folds.
• The peak rate of H2 and CO production increased significantly.
• The ratio of selectivity of syngas to undesired CH4 was doubled.
• The derived activation energies were 206 and 128 kJ mol−1 for MS and MS-Ni.

Proposed synergistic use of a combined medium of molten salt and Ni/Al2O3 (MS-Ni) was investigated for its enhancement of cellulose pyrolysis for high-quality syngas production. Clean renewable solar energy is to be stored at a high temperature in molten salt (MS) and provides the heat of pyrolysis. The MS-Ni medium could increase H2 yield by 3-folds while CO yield slightly increased by 15%, compared to the case of only MS medium. The peak rate of H2 production nearly quadrupled while the peak rate of CO production increased 2.5 times at about 150 and 80 K lower temperatures, respectively. The ratio of selectivity of syngas to undesired CH4 was nearly doubled. Arrhenius rate expressions for pseudo-first-order pyrolytic reaction are derived from the experimental data to give activation energies of 206 and 128 kJ mol−1 for the MS and the MS-Ni mediums, respectively. The experimental results clearly validated the role of MS-Ni as a synergistic medium for high-quality syngas production from cellulosic biomass pyrolysis.

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