Hydrogen production by catalytic cracking of rice husk over Fe2O3/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

Fe2O3/γ–Al2O3 catalyst is prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The catalyst is characterized by temperature programmed reduction (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The catalytic activity of Fe2O3/γ–Al2O3 catalysts is evaluated via the experimental study on the catalytic cracking of rice husk to produce hydrogen in a self made biomass continuous pyrolysis system. The results show that the reaction activities of the catalysts are greatly influenced by the calcinations temperature for catalyst, the secondary catalytic pyrolysis temperature and the mass ratio of Fe to Al. When the calcinations temperature is 550 °C, the pyrolysis temperature is 500 °C, the secondary catalytic pyrolysis temperature is 700 °C, and the Fe to Al mass ratio is 0.07, the experimental results indicate that Fe2O3/γ–Al2O3 catalyst could fully convert the volatile matters from biomass pyrolysis into small molecular gases such as H2, CH4, CO, CO2, C2H4 and C2H6. Meanwhile, the catalyst has shown fine catalytic activity and stability as well as good resistance to coke deposition.

► Fe2O3/γ–Al2O3 catalyst is prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and characterized by TPR, XRD, SEM and TGA.
► The yield of hydrogen production is influenced by the catalysts and reaction condition.
► Fe2O3/γ–Al2O3 catalyst could fully convert the volatile matters from biomass pyrolysis into small molecular gases.