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Updated: Jul 22, 2026

Biomass Conversion to Produce Hydrocarbon Liquid Fuel Via Hot-vapor Filtered Fast Pyrolysis and Catalytic Hydrotreating
Published on: December 25, 2016
Effect of the Reactor Material on the Reforming of Primary Syngas
Claudia Bezerra Silva1, Michael Lugo-Pimentel1, Carlos M Ceballos1
1Laboratoire des Technologies de la Biomasse, Département de Génie Chimique et de Génie Biotechnologique, Faculté de Génie, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC J1K 2R1, Canada.
Abstract:
Syngas, mostly hydrogen and carbon monoxide, has traditionally been produced from coal and natural gas, with biomass gasification later emerging as a renewable process. It is widely used in fuel synthesis through the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process, where the H2/CO ratio is crucial in determining product efficiency and quality. In this sense, this study aimed to reform an emulated syngas resulting from the supercritical water gasification of biomass, tailoring it to meet the H2/CO ratio required for FT synthesis. Conditions resembling dry reforming were applied, using temperatures from 600 to 950 °C and steel wool as a catalyst. Additionally, the effects of Inconel and stainless steel as reactor materials on syngas reforming were investigated. When Inconel was used, H2/CO ratios ranged between 1.04 and 1.84 with steel wool and 1.28 and 1.67 without. When comparing reactions without steel wool performed either in the Inconel or the stainless steel reactors, those using Inconel consistently outperformed the stainless steel ones, achieving CH4 and CO2 conversions up to 95% and 76%, respectively, versus 0% and 39% with stainless steel. It was concluded that the Inconel reactor exhibited catalytic properties due to its high nickel content and specific oxides.
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