Catalytic hydrothermal gasification of biomass

TLDR

Pressurized water-processing environments are a recent development in biomass gasification that avoid drying the biomass. The paper reviews research developing pressurized water-based biomass gasification and compares options to demonstrate its potential. The review covers laboratory studies of hydrothermal gasification using heterogeneous catalysts in liquid‑phase subcritical and supercritical water, highlighting lower‑temperature operation and excluding wet oxidation and near‑atmospheric‑pressure steam‑gasification. The review shows that pressurized water‑based hydrothermal gasification with catalysts offers promising potential, as evidenced by comparative analyses of current research options. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract A recent development in biomass gasification is the use of a pressurized water‐processing environment to avoid drying of the biomass. This paper reviews the research undertaken developing this new option for biomass gasification. This review does not cover wet oxidation or near‐atmospheric‐pressure steam‐gasification of biomass. Laboratory research on hydrothermal gasification of biomass focusing on the use of catalysts is reviewed here, and a companion review focuses on non‐catalytic processing. Research includes liquid‐phase, subcritical processing as well as supercritical water processing. The use of heterogeneous catalysts in such a system allows effective operation at lower temperatures, and the issues around the use of catalysts are presented. This review attempts to show the potential of this new processing concept by comparing the various options under development and the results of the research. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd