An investigation into catalyst was conducted for one-step production of synthetic natural gas from coal in a fixed bed reactor using steam as gasification medium. The reactivity and stability of K-Fe catalyst in multi-cycles

as well as the kinetics model of methanation process and the effect of different coals on methanation

were studied. K15Fe10Ca5 catalyst showed significantly better activity in the coal gasification and methanation reactions at 650℃ and 2 MPa. Furthermore

X-ray diffraction data indicated that some highly active materials

such as K6Fe2O5 were formed by interaction of active components and enhanced reactivity. With the addition of calcium promoter

combination of active components and minerals in coal was prevented and the sulfur in coal could be fixed effectively. In multi-cycle experiments

CH4 yield remained stable. The methanation mechanism of Shenmu-coal with K15Fe10Ca5 could be described by the modified random pore model proposed

suggesting that interfacial reaction was the control step. The final yield was affected by volatile matter

ash content

and sulfur content.