A Comparison of the Efficiency of Catalysts Based on Ni, Ni-Co and Ni-Mo in Pressure Pyrolysis of Biomass Leading to Hythane
A thermal conversion of biomass to hythane using catalysts was studied. Low-temperature pyrolysis of two different types of biomass was performed in a pressure sealed reactor, and the resulting gas with high contents of CO2 and CO was methanized in a hydrogen atmosphere at a pressure of 30 bar. As catalysts, Ni/Al2O3, NiCo/Al2O3 and NiMo/Al2O3 were used and their catalytic activity was evaluated. The NiCo/Al2O3 catalyst showed the highest catalytic activity, Ni/Al2O3 had a lower but comparable one, and NiMo/Al2O3 showed the lowest activity. The resulting hythane contained 70 vol.% CH4 and 10 vol.% H2 (with NiCo/Al2O3 catalyst, HHV 29.20 MJ/m3, LHV 26.32 MJ/m3), or 57 vol.% CH4 and 23 vol% H2 (with Ni/Al2O3, HHV 25.92 MJ/m3, LHV 23.21 MJ/m3) or 47 vol.% CH4 and 27 vol.% H2 (with NiMo/Al2O3, HHV 23.23 MJ/m3, LHV 20.76 MJ/m3). It has been found that secondary reactions of volatile biomass products are of great importance for successful pressure pyrolysis.