Kinetic model for noncatalytic supercritical water gasification of cellulose and lignin

This article reports the first kinetics model for Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) that describes the formation and interconversion of individual gaseous species. The model comprises 11 reactions, and it uses a lumping scheme to handle the large number of intermediate compounds. We determined numerical values for the rate constants in the model by fitting it to experimental data previously reported for SCWG of cellulose and lignin. We validated the model by showing that it accurately predicts gas yields at biomass loadings and water densities not used in the parameter estimation. Sensitivity analysis and reaction rate analysis indicate that steam‐reforming and water–gas shift are the main sources of H₂ in SCWG, and intermediate species are the main sources of CO, CO₂, and CH₄. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010