Study on the analysis of gaseous products from lignite steam gasification with waste catalysts

We performed the steam gasification of lignite char physically mixed with three kinds of waste catalysts obtained from the hydrotreating process of petroleum plants. Steam gasification of lignite char with waste catalysts and K₂CO₃ was investigated on a fixed bed reactor with gas chromatography and a gas analyzer at the temperature range of 800–900 °C. The gasification reaction rate, carbon conversion and the maximum release rate of major gases increased with increasing gasification temperature. The carbon conversions of the lignite char with waste catalysts were more than 90% and similar to K₂CO₃. The higher reaction index of lignite char and the largest H₂ gross production, 203.3 mmol/g_c, was observed with the waste catalyst III. Waste catalysts could be alternatives of K₂CO₃ for the H₂ production from steam lignite gasification.