Rich hydrogen production from crude gas secondary catalytic cracking over Fe/γ-Al2O3

It is generally acknowledged that the continuous production of rich hydrogen is made by using a sequential biomass pyrolysis reactor which combines the pyrolysis of rice husks with the secondary decomposition of gaseous intermediate. Fe/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The result shows that Fe/γ-Al2O3 could fully convert biomass pyrolysis volatile into gaseous products, such as H2、CH4、CO etc. And the reaction activities of the catalysts are greatly influenced by the calcination temperature of catalysts, the secondary catalytic pyrolysis temperature and Fe/Al mass ratio. The catalyst is characterized by temperature programmed revification (TPR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scan electron microscope (SEM) and thermogravimetry(TG). The result indicates that the activity centre of Fe/γ-Al2O3 is Fe2+ and Fe0. In brief, the main processes are that large molecule organics in bio-oil decompose into gaseous products, meanwhile the gases are catalytic reformation.

► The Fe/γ-Al2O3 exhibited good performances for H2 production from biomass.
► The activity centre of Fe/γ-Al2O3 is Fe2+ and Fe0
► The key roles of the catalyst are to improve the overall biomass pyrolysis into syngas or bio-oil and to promote bio-oil decomposed into syngas and increase hydrogen production.
► Fe/γ-Al2O3 catalyst can control and determine the nature of the coke formed.