Syn-Gas Production from Catalytic Steam Gasification of Municipal Solid Wastes in a Combined Fixed Bed Reactor

The catalytic steam gasification of municipal solid wastes (MSW) for syn-gas production was experimentally investigated in a combined fixed bed reactor using the newly developed tri-metallic catalyst. A series of experiments have been performed to explore the effects of catalyst presence, catalytic temperature, catalyst to MSW weight ratio (C/M) and steam to MSW ratio (S/M) on the composition and yield of gasification gases. The experiments results indicated that the supported tri-metallic catalyst had a high activity of cracking tar and hydrocarbons, upgrading the gas quality, as well as yielding a high hydrogen production in catalytic steam gasification of municipal solid wastes. Catalytic temperature was crucial for the overall gasification process, a higher temperature contributed to more hydrogen production and gas yield. Varying catalyst to MSW weight ratio demonstrated complex effects on gas yield and composition of MSW gasification and an optimal value of 0.5 was found in the present study. Comparing with biomass catalytic gasification, the introduction of steam improved gas quality and yield, the S/M ratio of 1.33 was found as the optimum operating condition in the catalytic steam gasification of municipal solid wastes.