PNNL

Abstract

Low-temperature hydrothermal gasification can be applied to biorefinery residues as an efficient energy recovery process. Through the use of a metal catalyst, gasification of wet biomass can be accomplished with high levels of carbon conversion to medium heating value gas at relatively low temperature (350 degrees Celsius). In the pressurized-water environment (21 MPa) near-total conversion of the organic structure of biomass to gases has been accomplished in the presence of a ruthenium metal catalyst. The process is essentially steam reforming as there is no added oxidizer or reagent other than water. In addition, the gas is produced with high-levels of methane, as dictated by thermodynamic equilibrium. Processing systems and results will be described for both bench-scale and scaled-up reactor systems. The bench-scale systems include both short-term 1-liter batch reactor tests and longer-term continuous flow reactor tests using a 1-liter fixed bed of catalyst in a tubular reactor. The scaled-up reactor is a 4.4 liter version of the continuous flow system, which also includes a high-pressure heat exchanger to demonstrate process efficiency.