Fluidizable Ni/Ce-meso-Al2O3 for gasification of glucose: Effect of catalyst reduction on hydrogen selectivity

A new template-free technique is applied to develop fluidizable Ce-Al2O3 support and impregnated with nickel. The Ni(x)/Ce-Al2O3 catalysts are evaluated in a fluidized CREC Riser Simulator using glucose as biomass surrogate. XRD shows that nickel is well-dispersed on Ce-Al2O3. The acidity of the catalysts decreased from 0.317 to 0.202 mmol NH3/g-sample as the nickel loading was increased. In catalyst evaluation, it is found that the reduced catalysts favor bond cleavage, promotes water gas shift and steam reforming reactions to give hydrogen/syngas as more selective products. Ni(20)/Ce-Al2O3 exhibited lowest extent of coking and produced hydrogen rich syngas with H-2/CO approximate to 1.75:1. (C) 2018 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.