Enhancing the Rates of Reactions in Supercritical Water Gasification by Catalyst

Supercritical water gasification allows rapid and complete gasification of wet biomass, but catalysts are needed for practical use. Activated carbon and ruthenium catalysts are known to be effective in enhancing the reaction rate. Although the overall gasification rate is actually enhanced by these catalysts, which reaction is enhanced in the reaction network including various intermediates has not been elucidated. The purpose of this study is to compare the change of carbon yield with time for the observed intermediates and clarify which reaction is enhanced by the catalyst. A laboratory-scale continuous reactor was employed, and the effluent was analyzed for the concentration change of the intermediates. It was found that activated carbon enhances the gasification rate of C2 and C4 compounds.