Biomass to hydrogen-rich syngas via steam gasification of bio-oil/biochar slurry over LaCo1−xCuxO3 perovskite-type catalysts

LaCo1−xCuxO3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3) perovskite-type catalysts were prepared, characterized and tested for hydrogen-rich syngas production from steam gasification of bio-oil/biochar slurry (bioslurry). The effects of the Cu-substitution, temperature, water to carbon molar ratio (WCMR) and bioslurry weight based hourly space velocity (WbHSV) on the hydrogen (H2) yield were investigated. The results showed that the activity of LaCoO3 was improved by Cu-substitution. LaCo0.9Cu0.1O3 exhibited the best performance and gave higher H2 yield and higher carbon conversion than that of non-catalytic process and also that of commercial 14 wt% Ni/ZrO2. Coke deposition could be depressed by higher temperature, higher WCMR or lower WbHSV, while higher temperature and lower WbHSV made for higher H2 yield. 2 was deemed to be the optimum WCMR. A maximum H2 yield of 75.33% and a maximum carbon conversion of 80.42% were obtained at 800 °C with a combination of WCMR = 2 and WbHSV = 15.36 h−1.