Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics realizes biomass production of natural gas

Recently, news came from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences that Lu Fang, a researcher in the Biomass Hydrogen Bond Selection Control and Activation Innovation Special Zone Research Group, has developed an efficient biomass catalyst that realizes the catalytic conversion of primary biomass.
Low carbon natural gas
.

According to Lu Fang, the research team developed a technical route to synthesize natural gas from agricultural and forestry wastes, and proposed an efficient catalytic hydrogenolysis strategy that can directly convert a variety of agricultural and forestry wastes to quickly prepare natural gas
.
Catalytically convert biomass efficiently to prepare natural gas under mild conditions, and the carbon yield of natural gas can reach 93%, which is in line with the composition of pipeline natural gas
.

Biomass, as a renewable resource widely existing in nature, is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin
.
The complex structure of biomass components and the interactions between the components through hydrogen bonds and covalent bonds constitute the tough structure of biomass, which hinders its direct conversion and utilization to a large extent
.

Currently, the pyrolysis/gasification process is one of the widely used biomass feedstock conversion technologies, typically operating at 600°C to 1000°C and producing a gas mixture mainly containing carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen and methane
.
Among them, the total content of hydrocarbons is generally less than 10%, and the natural gas produced by this process cannot meet the composition requirements of pipeline natural gas
.
In addition, the solid residue remaining after the reaction needs to be removed, and the separation device will increase energy consumption and operating costs
.
Therefore, efficient conversion of biomass to commercial natural gas remains a challenge
.

In order to solve the above problems, according to the structural characteristics of biomass, the research team precisely constructed Ni2Al3 alloy catalytic active centers to promote the efficient breaking of carbon-oxygen and carbon-carbon bonds in the macromolecules of primary biomass, and finally through the strategy of efficient hydrogenolysis, The direct catalytic conversion of primary biomass to produce natural gas under mild conditions
.

The whole life cycle and economic evaluation analysis shows that compared with fossil natural gas, biomass natural gas reduces carbon emissions by about 30%.
Through the optimization of initial hydrogen pressure, the carbon emission under the condition of 0.
1MPa hydrogen pressure is only 4.
0MPa hydrogen pressure.
of about 10%
.

"This technical route is expected to realize the preparation of biomass natural gas from primary biomass, using renewable hydrogen, etc.
, and then transport the natural gas through pipelines for industrial, residential, transportation and power generation
.
" Lu Fang believes that the technical route preparation Natural gas can effectively reduce carbon emissions, has certain economic competitiveness, and provides a new technology path for the conversion and utilization of biomass resources
.

In response to the successful catalytic conversion of primary biomass into low-carbon natural gas, Lu Fang said that in the next step, the research team will actively explore how to transform the batch reactor of the existing reaction system into a suitable continuous reactor, and plan to The reaction is scaled up in a continuous reactor
.

Natural gas is one of the important basic fossil energy sources, which can be used as fuel for power generation, heating and transportation, and can also be used to produce bulk chemicals such as methanol
.
Compared with oil and coal, natural gas has high combustion efficiency and low carbon and pollutant emissions
.
Biomass, as a widely existing renewable resource, develops the technical route of natural gas synthesis from agricultural and forestry wastes, which is of great significance for alleviating the shortage of natural gas supply, promoting the conversion and utilization of agricultural wastes, and reducing carbon emissions
.