Two-Stage Dry Reforming Process for Biomass Gasification: Product Characteristics and Energy Analysis

Abstract

The utilization of biomass can not only alleviate the energy crisis but also reduce the pollution of fossil fuels to the environment. Biomass gasification is one of the main utilization methods, which can effectively convert biomass into high-value and wide-use gasification gas. However, this process inevitably produces the by-product tar, which affects the yield of syngas. In order to solve this problem, a two-stage process combining biomass pyrolysis and CO2 catalytic reforming is proposed in this paper, which is used to prepare high calorific value syngas rich in H2 and CO and reduce the by-product tar of biomass gasification while realizing the resource utilization of CO2. The effects of the reforming temperature and CO2/C ratio on the gas yield and calorific value of biomass were investigated by catalytic gasification reforming device, and the system energy consumption was analyzed. With the increase of reforming temperature, the yield of CO increased, and the yield of H2 and the calorific value of gas increased first and then decreased. Increasing the CO2/C ratio within a proper range is beneficial to the formation of syngas. When the reforming temperature is 900 °C and the CO2/C ratio is 1, syngas with a high gas calorific value is obtained, which of is 2.75 MJ/kg is obtained. At this time, the yield of H2 and CO reached the maximums, which were 0.46 Nm3/kg and 0.28 Nm3/kg, respectively. Under these conditions, the total energy consumption of the system is 0.68 MJ/kg, slightly more than 0, and does not require too much external heat.