Development of a Honeycomb Catalyst Based on Rh-LaCoO3 For Conversion of Tar into Syngas

Honeycomb catalysts have been developed for conversion of tar from biomass pyrolysis on the basis of the very promising results obtained on Rh-LaCoO3 based powder catalysts in order to propose them as secondary catalysts in biomass gasification processes, reducing the pressure drops across the reactor and blocking due to solid particulate. The structured catalysts have been tested in a suitably designed plant consisting in a double reactor system where products of biomass pyrolyzed in the first reactor pass through a second reactor containing the catalyst. Honeycomb catalysts have been fully characterized by ICP-MS, BET, SEM and H2-TPR techniques. The effect of active phase loading, of honeycomb cell density and of the gas flow rate on the performances have been investigated in order to find operating conditions approaching results obtained on the powder system.