Novel catalysts for gasification of biomass with high conversion efficiency

We have developed catalysts for the gasification of biomass with much higher energy efficiency than the conventional methods (noncatalyst, dolomite, and commercial steam reforming Ni catalyst). In our investigation, the Rh/CeO₂ gave high yields of syngas for cellulose gasification using a fluidized-bed reactor with batch feeding of cellulose. However, the catalyst was deactivated because of sintering of CeO₂ during the reaction. To prevent the CeO₂ sintering, we have further improved the catalyst and found that Rh/CeO₂/SiO₂ was quite stable for the gasification of cellulose. It was demonstrated that Rh/CeO₂/SiO ₂ gave almost complete gasification of real biomass (wood powder) at 873 K. These results indicate that the combination of this kind of catalyst and fluidized-bed reactor can realize the energy-efficient biomass gasification.