Catalytic pyrolysis of rice husks for syngas production over Fe-based catalyst in a fixed-bed reactor

Rice husk (RH) was pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed reactor between 400 and 800°C with Fe-based catalysts and the outlet gases were analyzed online by gas chromatography. The results showed that Fe2O3 has a good catalytic activity in the pyrolysis. The influence of Fe2O3 catalyst was to convert RH to largely syngas. The concentration of H2 increased with increasing temperature and could be released completely at 700°C with the addition of Fe2O3. The concentration of CH4 was not affected, indicating that Fe2O3 had no effect on the methanation.