Supercritical water gasification of ethanol production waste over graphite supported ruthenium catalyst

• Catalytic gasification of ethanol production residue from wood was performed in supercritical water.
• A graphite supported ruthenium catalyst was active for the supercritical water gasification.
• Water acts not only as a solvent but also as a reactant during the gasification process.

Supercritical water gasification of ethanol production residue from eucalyptus powder was studied over a graphite-supported 5 wt% ruthenium catalyst (Ru/G) in a batch reaction system. The complete gasification of 0.1 g of the residue proceeded over 0.05 g of Ru/G at 673 K in supercritical water with 0.5 g cm−3 water density. The gasification behavior of the residue from eucalyptus was compared with that from Japanese cedar to evaluate the potential of fuel gas production from bioethanol production residue. The gasification profiles (gaseous yield and selectivity) of the resides were well reproduced by the linear combination of those of woody biomass fractions (lignin and cellulose).

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