Effects of electric current upon catalytic steam reforming of biomass gasification tar model compounds to syngas

• ECR technique was proposed to convert biomass gasification tar model compounds.
• Electric current enhanced the reforming efficiency remarkably.
• The highest toluene conversion reached 99.9%.
• Ni–CeO2/γ-Al2O3 exhibited good stability during the ECR performance.

Electrochemical catalytic reforming (ECR) technique, known as electric current enhanced catalytic reforming technique, was proposed to convert the biomass gasification tar into syngas. In this study, Ni–CeO2/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared, and toluene was employed as the major feedstock for ECR experiments using a fixed-bed lab-scale setup where thermal electrons could be generated and provided to the catalyst. Several factors, including the electric current intensity, reaction temperature and steam/carbon (S/C) ratio, were investigated to reveal their effects on the conversion of toluene as well as the composition of the gas products. Moreover, toluene, two other tar model compounds (benzene and 1-methylnaphthalene) and real tar (tar-containing wastewater) were subjected to the long period catalytic stability tests. All the used catalysts were analyzed to determine their carbon contents. The results indicated that the presence of electric current enhanced the catalytic performance remarkably. The toluene conversion reached 99.9% under the electric current of 4 A, catalytic temperature of 800 °C and S/C ratio of 3. Stable conversion performances of benzene, 1-methylnaphthalene and tar-containing wastewater were also observed in the ECR process. H2 and CO were the major gas products, while CO2 and CH4 were the minor ones. Due to the promising capability, the ECR technique deserves further investigation and application for efficient tar conversion.