A comparison of basket willow and coal hydrogasification and pyrolysis

The presented work aimed at investigating the course of basket willow hydrogasification and comparing that process to the hydrogasification of bituminous coal. The examinations focussed on basket willow (Salix viminalis), bituminous coal of low degree of metamorphism and their blends at the mass ratio 1:1. Measurements of evolution kinetics of gaseous hydrocarbons during hydrogasification of those materials were conducted in the atmosphere of hydrogen under the pressure of 2.5 MPa. In the investigations, the non-isothermal method was employed. The examined samples were heated from ambient temperature up to 1200 K at the rate of 3 K/min.The highest yields of the examined products were recorded during hydrogasification of coal, and the lowest yield was observed in the process involving the use of basket willow. For comparison, measurements of basket willow pyrolysis were also conducted. It was established that in the process of hydrogasification, even at a relatively low pressure which was used in the examinations, it is possible to achieve the yield and conversion ratios of C to the hydrocarbons C1–C3 which are approximately five times higher than in the case of pyrolysis conducted in the atmosphere of an inert gas.