Ultrahigh temperature water gas shift catalysts to increase hydrogen yield from biomass gasification

Noble metal (Rh, Pt, Pd, Ir, Ru, and Ag) and Ni catalysts supported on CeO2–Al2O3 were investigated for water gas shift reaction at ultrahigh temperatures. Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 and Ru/CeO2–Al2O3 demonstrated as the best catalysts in terms of activity, hydrogen yield and hydrogen selectivity. At 700 °C and steam to CO ratio of 5.2:1, Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 converted 76.3% of CO with 94.7% of hydrogen selectivity. At the same conditions, the activity and hydrogen selectivity for Ru/CeO2–Al2O3 were 63.9% and 85.6%, respectively. Both catalysts showed a good stability over 9 h of continuous operation. However, both catalysts showed slight deactivation during the test period. The study revealed that Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 and Ru/CeO2–Al2O3 were excellent ultrahigh temperature water gas shift catalysts, which can be coupled with biomass gasification in a downstream reactor.