title: CO2 gasification reactivity of biomass char: catalytic influence of alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal salts.
abstract: This study investigates the influence of alkali (Na, K), alkaline earth (Ca, Mg) and transition (Fe) metal nitrates on CO2 gasification reactivity of pistachio nut shell (PNS) char. The preliminary gasification experiments were performed in thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and the results showed considerable improvement in carbon conversion; Na-char>Ca-char>Fe-char>K-char>Mg-char>raw char. Based on TGA studies, NaNO3 (with loadings of 3-7 wt%) was selected as the superior catalyst for further gasification studies in bench-scale reactor; the highest reactivity was devoted to 5 wt% Na loaded char. The data acquired for gasification rate of catalyzed char were fitted with several kinetic models, among which, random pore model was adopted as the best model. Based on obtained gasification rate constant and using the Arrhenius plot, activation energy of 5 wt% Na loaded char was calculated as 151.46 kJ/mol which was 53 kJ/mol lower than that of un-catalyzed char.
authors.affiliation: Biomass and Bioenergy Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Pooya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lahijani
authors.forename: Zainal Alimuddin
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Zainal
authors.forename: Abdul Rahman
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Mohamed
authors.forename: Maedeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
mesh_terms: D000468:Alkalies / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000032:analysis; D002384:Catalysis / Q000187:drug effects; D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D008673:Metals, Alkaline Earth / Q000494:pharmacology*; D027927:Pistacia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects; D016062:Porosity; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012492:Salts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013696:Temperature; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D028561:Transition Elements / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000468:Alkalies; D008673:Metals, Alkaline Earth; D012492:Salts; D028561:Transition Elements; C540010:biochar; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D002606:Charcoal; D002244:Carbon; D002248:Carbon Monoxide
keywords: Activation energy; CO(2) gasification; Kinetic models; Metal nitrates; Pistachio nut shell char