Onwudili, JA and Williams, PT (2016) Catalytic conversion of bio-oil in supercritical water: Influence of RuO2/γ-Al2O3 catalysts on gasification efficiencies and bio-methane production. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 180. 559 - 568. ISSN 0926-3373
Abstract
Catalytic supercritical water gasification of heavy (dewatered) bio-oil has been investigated in a batch reactor in the presence of ruthenium catalysts in the form of RuO2 on γ-Al2O3 support. The reactions were carried out at temperatures of 400 °C, 450 °C and 500 °C and reaction times of up to 60 min using 15 wt% of bio-oil feed. Increased ruthenium oxide loading led to increased carbon gasification efficiencies (CGE) and bio-methane production. Hence, using the 20 wt% RuO2/γ-Al2O3 catalyst, CGE was 97.4 wt% at 500 °C and methane yield reached nearly 30 wt% of the bio-oil feed, which gave a CH4/CO2 molar ratio of 1.28. There was evidence that the RuO2 was involved in the initial conversion of the bio-oil to carbon oxides and hydrogen as well as the reduction of the CO2 to methane via CO methanation. However, competition for CO consumption via the water-gas shift reaction was also possible due to the large presence of water as the reaction medium. This work therefore demonstrates that high concentrations of heavy fraction of bio-oil can be catalytically converted to a methane-rich gas product under hydrothermal conditions at moderate temperatures. The calorific values of the gas product reached up to 54 MJ kg−1, which is nearly 3 times the HHV of the bio-oil feed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.This is an author produced version of a paper published in Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Keywords: | Hydrothermal gasification; Catalysis; Ruthenium oxide; Bio-methane |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) > Energy Research Institute (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 Sep 2015 14:48 |
Last Modified: | 26 Oct 2016 00:17 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.06.058 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.apcatb.2015.06.058 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:89485 |