Abstract
Catalytic coal gasification has attracted much attention in both academic and industrial circles due to that it is considered as a key technology for coal efficient utilization, in terms of lower reaction temperature and higher heat efficiency as compared to the conventional coal gasification. In this paper, the development and the research on catalytic coal gasification are reviewed, including the mechanism, catalysts and applications. Four categories of intensively used catalysts, including alkali metal catalysts (i.e. K, Na), alkaline earth metal catalysts (i.e. Ca), transition metal catalysts (i.e. Fe), and compound metal catalysts as well as their composites are summarized in detail. Furthermore, process conditions, such as coal feed composition, gasification operating conditions, and amount of catalyst are also reviewed. Although catalytic coal gasification as a promising technology can overcome some operation difficulties for efficiently converting coal to target products (H2, CH4), there are still many unsolved problems remained, such as, how to find catalysts more effective, recyclable and cheaper, and how to balance the efficiency and economic cost of gasification process.
