Patent ID: 8663504

Claim:
A method of gasifying a carbon-containing material, comprising: i) reacting the carbon-containing material with steam in the presence of a catalyst comprising a hydroxide, an oxide or a salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal, or a mixture thereof, to produce a gas product including CO, CO 2 , CH 4 , H 2 O and H 2 , in which the ratio of steam to carbon is in a range of 1 to 2; ii) thermally decomposing CH 4 generated in step i) into elemental carbon and H 2 , with at least a part of the elemental carbon generated being recirculated to step i); and iii) converting CO 2 generated in step i) into (a) CO through a reverse water-gas shift reaction, a CO 2 reforming reaction, or a C—CO 2 gasification reaction, and/or (b) into —(CH 2 ) n — or CH 3 OH through a CO 2 hydrogenation reaction using the product of step i) or step ii); wherein 30 to 70% of the total amount of H 2 and CO contained in the as product of step i) is recirculated back to step i).