Evaluation of hardwood or softwood bark biomass as feed materials for aqueous-phase reforming gasification process

In the present study, pine (Pinus brutia) and poplar (Populus alba) tree barks, softwood and hardwood representative biomass were evaluated for production of gas biofuel, hydrogen by aqueous-phase reforming. The proximate composition, elemental composition, higher heating values (HHVs), proximate thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTG), fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), and volatile composition of these biomass materials were determined and their effect on gasification performance of the softwood and hardwood biomass were evaluated. Gasification was performed by aqueous-phase reforming of solubilized liquid fraction of the biomass materials in presence of carbon-supported Pd catalyst which was synthesized in the present study. Softwood contained significantly higher levels of ash and volatile matter, with lower hemicellulose but higher lignin content. Gasification results showed that softwood produced slightly higher amounts of hydrogen with significantly lower carbon monoxide compared to hardwood. Although solid hardwood bark composition was expected to produce more gaseous products, the results observed were opposite. The dissolution of biomass in pressured hot water prior to gasification resulted in a more dilute hydrolysate in softwood compared to hardwood, positively influencing the gasification performance. Despite of many advantages of the aqueous-phase reforming (APR) gasification process used in the present study, the process still needs to be improved further to make the process more economical. To increase the advantage of this process, new catalysts that are more robust and active and have high stability in organic-rich APR conditions should be developed.