Title: Tar mitigation in biomass gasifiers using nano-structured Ni/SiO₂ catalyst: an experimental study

Authors: K. Shanmuganandam; M. Venkata Ramanan; S. Premnath; J. Anichai

Addresses: Institute for Energy Studies, CEG, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India ' Institute for Energy Studies, CEG, Anna University, Chennai 600025, India ' Department of Automobile Engineering, Sri Venkateswara Engineering College, Chennai 602117, India ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saipem India Projects Ltd., Chennai 600034, India

Abstract: The effectiveness of a nano-structured Ni/SiO₂ catalyst for tar mitigation in a 15 kW biomass gasifier is investigated. The nano-structured Ni/SiO₂ catalyst was synthesised by deposition-precipitation (DP) method. The characterisation of the nano-catalyst has been accomplished using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HR-SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The average size of nano-catalyst particles was found to be 20 nm. The experiments conducted with the nano-structured Ni/SiO₂ catalyst resulted in tar cracking efficiency of 93%. In addition, the H₂ and CO composition increased considerably, thereby enhancing the calorific value of producer gas.

Keywords: tar mitigation; biomass gasifiers; nanostructured Ni/SiO2; nanocatalyst; silicon dioxide; silica; nickel; nanotechnology; tar cracking efficiency; calorific value; producer gas.

DOI: 10.1504/PIE.2015.073094

Progress in Industrial Ecology, An International Journal, 2015 Vol.9 No.2, pp.182 - 190

Received: 11 Apr 2015
Accepted: 04 Aug 2015
Published online: 16 Nov 2015 *

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