Catalysts for gasification: a review

Catalytic gasification is a method for converting carbon feeds to usable products such as hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane. This review summarizes the research on potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and heavy metal catalysts, the interactions between these catalysts and other species in typical feeds, and gasifier design considerations. Phase behaviour is a critical element in the performance of a gasification catalyst - the active phase of the catalyst must be thermodynamically favoured. Formation of stable but inactive forms and/or highly volatile forms of the catalyst are detrimental. Given that real feeds are complex and the conditions in a gasifier not uniform, laboratory results must be carefully translated to the larger scale.