In view of the growing energy demand and the current climate problems, renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly popular. The so‐called biosyngas obtained from the gasification of dry biomass can be used to synthesize fuels and basic chemicals. Besides gaseous by‐products and salts, this gas contains tar which needs to be removed before downstream processing. Catalysts like Mo/V/W‐oxides were found to be inert towards the oxidation of CO and H2 but are able to activate the tar model compound naphthalene highly selective. Unfortunately, besides the total oxidation, the partial oxidation to the undesired intermediates phthalic acid anhydride and maleic acid anhydride takes place. Modification of the catalyst with bases leads to synergetic effects on the catalyst surface, the total oxidation is promoted, and the formation of intermediates decreases.
Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is one possibility to concentrate energy of wet biomass in so‐called hydrochar. To design technical HTC reactors in a rational way, the reaction kinetics of the four main components of biomass, i.e., carbohydrates, lignin, fats/oils, and proteins, should be known. To determine the kinetics of hydrochar functionalization, initially an appropriate analytical method must be developed. In the presented experiments, the hydrochar obtained by HTC of vanillin is investigated by diffuse reflectance infrared (IR) Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS). In order to assign the IR bands in the DRIFT spectra to different functional groups, temperature‐programmed desorption (TPD) experiments are conducted, followed by a combination of DRIFTS and TPD. This TPD/DRIFT combination is applied as an analytical method to investigate the kinetics of hydrochar functionalization during HTC.
To diversify energy sources and to address the impacts of global warming, the transformation of biomass, a renewable energy source, into fuels and chemicals is becoming increasingly necessary. The gasification technology is an efficient way of converting biomass via syngas into sustainable fuels. By-products, especially tar, are formed during the gasification process and need to be removed before further downstream processing. Mo/V/W-mixed oxides were found to be applicable for the catalytic tar oxidation in CO/H 2 atmosphere by adding a stoichiometric amount of oxygen. In temperature-programmed experiments the reactivity of different tar model compounds during the selective oxidation on Mo/V/W-mixed oxides as well as the catalytic performances of V 2 O 5 , WO 3 , and MoO 3 during the tar oxidation were investigated.
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