Hydrogen-rich gas production by air–steam gasification of rice husk using supported nano-NiO/γ-Al2O3 catalyst

The air–steam catalytic gasification of rice husk for hydrogen-rich gas production was experimentally investigated in a combined fixed bed reactor with the newly developed nano-NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst. A series of experiments have been performed to explore the effects of catalyst presence, catalytic reactor temperature, the equivalence ratio (ER), and steam to biomass ratio (S/B) on the composition and yield of gasification gases. The experiments demonstrated that the developed nano-NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst had a high activity of cracking tar and hydrocarbons, upgrading the gas quality, as well as yielding a high hydrogen production. Catalytic temperature was crucial for the overall gasification process, a higher temperature contributed to more hydrogen production and gas yield. Varying ER demonstrated complex effects on rice husk gasification and an optimal value of 0.22 was found in the present study. Compared with biomass catalytic gasification under air only, the introduction of steam improved the gas quality and yield. The steam/biomass ratio of 1.33 was found as the optimum operating condition in the air–steam catalytic gasification.     

Integrated catalytic adsorption (ICA) steam gasification system for enhanced hydrogen production using palm kernel shell

This paper investigates the integrated catalytic adsorption (ICA) steam gasification of palm kernel shell for hydrogen rich gas production using pilot scale fluidized bed gasifier under atmospheric condition. The effect of temperature (600–750 °C) and steam to biomass ratio (1.5–2.5 wt/wt) on hydrogen (H₂) yield, product gas composition, gas yield, char yield, gasification and carbon conversion efficiency, and lower heating values are studied. The results show that H₂ hydrogen composition of 82.11 vol% is achieved at temperature of 675 °C, and negligible carbon dioxide (CO₂) composition is observed at 600 °C and 675 °C at a constant steam to biomass ratio of 2.0 wt/wt. In addition, maximum H₂ yield of 150 g/kg biomass is observed at 750 °C and at steam to biomass ratio of 2.0 wt/wt. A good heating value of product gas which is 14.37 MJ/Nm³ is obtained at 600 °C and steam to biomass ratio of 2.0 wt/wt. Temperature and steam to biomass ratio both enhanced H₂ yield but temperature is the most influential factor. Utilization of adsorbent and catalyst produced higher H₂ composition, yield and gas heating values as demonstrated by biomass catalytic steam gasification and steam gasification with in situ CO₂ adsorbent.     

生物质水蒸气气化制氢模拟研究

利用ASPEN PLUS软件建立了生物质水蒸气气化制氢模型,对各种影响因素进行了深入分析。结果表明:随着碳转化率的增加,H2浓度略有降低,H2产量大幅增加,在碳转化率为1时达到最大值142.54 g/kg;随着水蒸气/生物质质量比的增加,H2浓度和产量大幅增加,而后趋于稳定,水蒸气/生物质质量比取2比较适宜。适当的升温和低压对制备H2有利,在加压条件下,H2浓度与产量达到最大值的温度升高。     

生物质等离子体气化研究

在热等离子体提供的高温、高能量反应环境中，进行生物质的快速热解气化研究。生物质的等离子体热解气化产物由固体残渣和气体组成，无焦油存在。气体产物中主要以化学合成气（H2和CO为主。增加水蒸气流量，H2和CO含量之和均在96％以上，且V（H2）／V（CO）比率为0．90～1．15，气体产率达到2．0L/g，碳的气相转化率很高。     

Experimental study on biomass steam gasification for hydrogen-rich gas in double-bed reactor

Based on Response Surface Methodology, the experiments of biomass catalytic gasification designed by Design-Expert software were carried out in steam atmosphere and double-bed reactor. The response surface was set up with three parameters (gasification temperature, the content of K-based catalyst in gasification bed and the content of Ni-based catalyst in reforming bed) for biomass gasification performance of carbon conversion efficiency and hydrogen yield to make analysis and optimization about the reaction characteristics and gasification conditions. Results showed that gasification temperature and the content of K-based catalyst in gasification bed had significant influence on carbon conversion efficiency and hydrogen yield, whilst the content of Ni-based catalyst in reforming bed affected the gasification reactions to a large extent. Furthermore, appropriate conditions of biomass steam gasification were 800 °C for gasification temperature, 82% for the content of K-based catalyst in gasification bed and 74% for the content of Ni-based catalyst in reforming bed by the optimization model. In these conditions, the steam gasification experiments using wheat straw showed that carbon conversion efficiency was 96.9% while hydrogen yield reached 64.5 mol/kg, which was in good agreement with the model prediction. The role of the reforming bed was also analyzed and evaluated, which provided important insight that the employment of reforming bed made carbon conversion efficiency raised by 4.8%, while hydrogen yield achieved a relative growth of 50.5%.     

Catalytic steam reforming of tar for enhancing hydrogen production from biomass gasification: a review

Presently, the global search for alternative renewable energy sources is rising due to the depletion of fossil fuel and rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Among alternatives, hydrogen (H₂) produced from biomass gasification is considered a green energy sector, due to its environmentally friendly, sustainable, and renewable characteristics. However, tar formation along with syngas is a severe impediment to biomass conversion efficiency, which results in process-related problems. Typically, tar consists of various hydrocarbons (HCs), which are also sources for syngas. Hence, catalytic steam reforming is an effective technique to address tar formation and improve H₂ production from biomass gasification. Of the various classes in existence, supported metal catalysts are considered the most promising. This paper focuses on the current researching status, prospects, and challenges of steam reforming of gasified biomass tar. Besides, it includes recent developments in tar compositional analysis, supported metal catalysts, along with the reactions and process conditions for catalytic steam reforming. Moreover, it discusses alternatives such as dry and autothermal reforming of tar.     

生物质富氧——水蒸气气化制氢特性研究

以一个鼓泡流化床为反应器,对生物质富氧—水蒸气气化制取富氢燃气的特性进行了一系列的实验研究。通过对试验数据的分析,探讨了主要参数温度、水蒸气/生物质(S/B)和氧浓度对气体成分、氢产率和潜在产氢量的影响。结果表明:在3个主要参数的变化范围内,氢产率和潜在氢产量受温度的影响最大:当温度从700~900℃时,每千克生物质氢产量从18g增加到了53g,每千克生物质潜在氢产量从71.6g增加到了115.6g。     

Hydrogen-rich gas production from biomass air and oxygen/steam gasification in a downdraft gasifier

Biomass gasification is an important method to obtain renewable hydrogen. However, this technology still stagnates in a laboratory scale because of its high-energy consumption. In order to get maximum hydrogen yield and decrease energy consumption, this study applies a self-heated downdraft gasifier as the reactor and uses char as the catalyst to study the characteristics of hydrogen production from biomass gasification. Air and oxygen/steam are utilized as the gasifying agents. The experimental results indicate that compared to biomass air gasification, biomass oxygen/steam gasification improves hydrogen yield depending on the volume of downdraft gasifier, and also nearly doubles the heating value of fuel gas. The maximum lower heating value of fuel gas reaches 11.11 MJ/N m³ for biomass oxygen/steam gasification. Over the ranges of operating conditions examined, the maximum hydrogen yield reaches 45.16 g H₂/kg biomass. For biomass oxygen/steam gasification, the content of H₂ and CO reaches 63.27–72.56%, while the content of H₂ and CO gets to 52.19–63.31% for biomass air gasification. The ratio of H₂/CO for biomass oxygen/steam gasification reaches 0.70–0.90, which is lower than that of biomass air gasification, 1.06–1.27. The experimental and comparison results prove that biomass oxygen/steam gasification in a downdraft gasifier is an effective, relatively low energy consumption technology for hydrogen-rich gas production.     

Hydrogen-rich gas production by steam gasification of palm oil wastes over supported tri-metallic catalyst

The catalytic steam gasification of palm oil wastes for hydrogen-rich gas production was experimentally investigated in a combined fixed bed reactor using the newly developed tri-metallic catalyst. The results indicated that the supported tri-metallic catalyst had greater activity for the cracking of hydrocarbons and tar in vapor phase and higher hydrogen yield than the calcined dolomite in catalytic steam gasification of palm oil wastes. A series of experiments have been performed to explore the effects of temperature, steam to biomass ratio (S/B) and biomass particle size on gas composition, gas yield, low heating value (LHV) and hydrogen yield. The experiments demonstrated that temperature was the most important factor in this process; higher temperature contributed to higher hydrogen production and gas yield, however, it lowered gas heating value. Comparing with biomass catalytic gasification, the introduction of steam improved gas quality and yield, the optimal value of S/B was found to be 1.33 under the present operating condition. It was also shown that a smaller particle size was more favorable for gas quality and yield. However, the LHV of fuel gas decreased with the increasing S/B ratio and the decreasing biomass particle size.     

A review on biomass‐based hydrogen production and potential applications

In this paper, a detailed review is presented to discuss biomass‐based hydrogen production systems and their applications. Some optimum hydrogen production and operating conditions are studied through a comprehensive sensitivity analysis on the hydrogen yield from steam biomass gasification. In addition, a hybrid system, which combines a biomass‐based hydrogen production system and a solid oxide fuel cell unit is considered for performance assessment. A comparative thermodynamic study also is undertaken to investigate various operational aspects through energy and exergy efficiencies. The results of this study show that there are various key parameters affecting the hydrogen production process and system performance. They also indicate that it is possible to increase the hydrogen yield from 70 to 107 g H₂ per kg of sawdust wood. By studying the energy and exergy efficiencies, the performance assessment shows the potential to produce hydrogen from steam biomass gasification. The study further reveals a strong potential of this system as it utilizes steam biomass gasification for hydrogen production. To evaluate the system performance, the efficiencies are calculated at particular pressures, temperatures, current densities, and fuel utilization factors. It is found that there is a strong potential in the gasification temperature range 1023–1423 K to increase energy efficiency with a hydrogen yield from 45 to 55% and the exergy efficiency with hydrogen yield from 22 to 32%, respectively, whereas the exergy efficiency of electricity production decreases from 56 to 49.4%. Hydrogen production by steam sawdust gasification appears to be an ultimate option for hydrogen production based on the parametric studies and performance assessments that were carried out through energy and exergy efficiencies. Finally, the system integration is an attractive option for better performance. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

生物质气化制氢的模拟

以秸秆为研究对象,利用Aspen P lus软件建立气化反应器模型,对生物质气化制氢进行模拟计算.探讨不同反应条件,包括气化温度、生物质与蒸汽质量配比以及催化剂对富氢气体成分的影响.计算结果表明,未加催化剂条件下,采用生物质蒸汽气化技术可获得体积分数为6000/以上的富氢燃料气,增大蒸汽与生物质质量配比有利于氢气产率的提高;添加CaO、MgO催化剂可较大幅度地提高氢气产率,氢气体积分数最大可达到9400/,其中CaO对生物质气化制氢过程的催化作用非常显著.     

Experimental investigation of a multi‐stage air‐steam gasification process for hydrogen enriched gas production

To achieve hydrogen‐rich and low‐tar producer gas, multi‐stage air‐blown and air‐steam gasification processes were studied in this research. Results showed that the tar content from multi‐stage air‐blown and air‐steam gasification were lower, compared to the average value of that from downdraft gasification. In the cases of air supplies of 80, 100 l min^?1 and 100, 100 l min^?1 with steam, hydrogen yields were increased by 40.71 and 41.62%, respectively, compared to that without steam. These were about 1.6 times of hydrogen flow rate of the base case (S/B = 0). However, it was found that too much steam added to the process was disadvantageous. The equilibrium model was also applied to predict the hydrogen production and the composition of producer gas obtained from the multi‐stage air‐blown and air‐steam gasification processes. The predicted result showed a better match for the case of multi‐stage air‐blown gasification process. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of catalyst and temperature on gasification performance of pig compost for hydrogen-rich gas production

The catalytic steam gasification of pig compost (PC) for hydrogen-rich gas production was conducted in a fixed-bed reactor. The influence of the catalyst and reactor temperature on yield and product composition was studied at the temperature range of 700–850 °C, for weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) in the range of 0.30–0.60 h⁻¹. The results indicate that the developed NiO on modified dolomite (NiO/MD) catalyst reveals better catalytic performance on the tar elimination and hydrogen yield than calcined MD or NiO/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst. Meanwhile, the lower WHSV and higher reactor temperature can contribute to more hydrogen production and gas yield. Moreover, the char from catalytic steam gasification of PC has a highest ash content of 75.84% at 850 °C. In conclusion, pig compost is a potential candidate for hydrogen gas production through catalytic steam gasification technology.     

Inhibition of steam gasification of biomass char by hydrogen and tar

The influence of hydrogen and tar on the reaction rate of woody biomass char in steam gasification was investigated by varying the concentrations in a rapid-heating thermobalance reactor. It was observed that the steam gasification of biomass char can be separated into two periods. Compared with the first period, in the second period (in which the relative mass of remaining char is smaller than 0.4) the gasification rate is increased. These effects are probably due to inherent potassium catalyst. Higher hydrogen partial pressure greatly inhibits the gasification of biomass char in the first and second periods. By calculating the first-order rate constants of char gasification in the first and second periods, we found that the hydrogen inhibition on biomass char gasification is caused by the reverse oxygen exchange reaction in the first period. In the second period, dissociative hydrogen adsorption on the char is the major inhibition reaction. The influence of levoglucosan, a major tar component derived from cellulose, was also examined. We found that not only hydrogen but also vapor-phase levoglucosan and its pyrolysates inhibited the steam gasification of woody biomass char. By mixing levoglucosan with woody biomass sample, the pyrolysis of char proceeds slightly more rapidly than with woody biomass alone, and gas evolution rates of H₂ and CO₂ are larger in steam gasification.     

生物质炭催化裂解焦油的实验研究

通过实验方法研究了生物质炭对生物质热解焦油的催化特性。通过分析焦油裂解率在催化剂及其重量、蒸汽加入量和加入方式、氮气流量等条件下的变化可知:在蒸汽条件下,生物质炭对焦油有显著的催化裂解效果,最高焦油转化率可达96.1%。通过对实验条件下裂解产物、裂解气体积分数的分析可知,生物质炭和蒸汽可以促进热解产物里面的可凝结相转化为不可凝结的气体,并且导致气体组分体积分数的变化。裂解气中氢气产量增加较快,最高可达裂解气体积的50.2%。     

Combined slow pyrolysis and steam gasification of biomass for hydrogen generation—a review

Hydrogen, the inevitable fuel of the future, can be generated from biomass through promising thermochemical methods. Modern‐day thermochemical methods of hydrogen generation include fast pyrolysis followed by steam reforming of bio‐oil, supercritical water gasification and steam gasification. Apart from the aforementioned methods, a novice technique of employing combined slow pyrolysis and steam gasification can be also engaged to produce hydrogen of improved yield and quality. This review paper discusses in detail about the existing hydrogen generation through thermochemical methods. It elaborates the merits and demerits of each method and gives insight about the combined slow pyrolysis and steam gasification process for hydrogen generation. The paper also elaborates about the various parameters affecting integrated slow pyrolysis and steam gasification process. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydrogen‐rich gas production from catalytic gasification of pine sawdust over Fe‐Ce/olivine catalyst

In order to improve hydrogen production and reduce tar generation during the biomass gasification, a catalyst loaded Fe‐Ce using calcined olivine as the support (Fe‐Ce/olivine catalysts) was prepared through deposition‐precipitation method. The characteristics of catalysts were determined by XRF, BET, XRD, and FTIR. Syngas yield, hydrogen yield, and tar yield were used to evaluate the catalyst activity. Meanwhile, the stability of catalysts was also studied. The results showed that the specific surface area and pore volume of olivine after calcined at high temperature were improved which was beneficial for the load of metals. α‐Fe₂O₃ and CeO₂ were the main active component of Fe‐Ce/olivine catalyst. The Fe‐Ce/olivine catalyst displayed a good performance on the catalytic gasification of pine sawdust with a syngas yield of 0.93 Nm³/kg, H₂ yield of 21.37 mol/kg, and carbon conversion rate of 55.14% at a catalytic temperature and gasification temperature of 800°C. Meanwhile, the Fe‐Ce/olivine catalyst could maintain a good stability after 150 minutes used.     

Integrated adsorption steam gasification for enhanced hydrogen production from palm waste at bench scale plant

The generation of hydrogen-enriched synthesis gas from catalytic steam gasification of biomass with in-situ CO₂ capture utilizing CaO has a high perspective as clean energy fuels. The present study focused on the process modeling of catalytic steam gasification of biomass using palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) as biomass for hydrogen generation through experimental work. Experiment work has been carried out using a fluidized bed gasifier on a bench-scale plant. The established model integrates the kinetics of EFB catalytic steam gasification reactions, in-situ capturing of CO₂, mass and energy balance calculations. Chemical reaction constants have been calculated via the parameters fitting optimization approach. The influence of operating parameters, mainly temperature, steam to biomass, and sorbent to biomass ratio, was investigated for the hydrogen purity and yield through the experimental study and developed model. The results predicted approximately 75 vol% of the hydrogen purity in the product gas composition. The maximum H₂ yield produced from the gasifier was 127 gH₂/kg of EFB via experimental setup. The increase in both steam to biomass ratio and temperature enhanced the production of hydrogen gas. Comparing the results with already published literature showed that the current system enables to produce a high amount of hydrogen from EFB.     

Two-step steam pyrolysis of biomass for hydrogen production

In this study, different char based catalysts were evaluated in order to increase hydrogen production from the steam pyrolysis of olive pomace in two stage fixed bed reactor system. Biomass char, nickel loaded biomass char, coal char and nickel or iron loaded coal chars were used as catalyst. Acid washed biomass char was also tested to investigate the effect of inorganics in char on catalytic activity for hydrogen production. Catalysts were characterized by using Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) method, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyzer, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The results showed that the steam in absence of catalyst had no influence on hydrogen production. Increase in catalytic bed temperature (from 500 °C to 700 °C) enhanced hydrogen production in presence of Ni-impregnated and non-impregnated biomass char. Inherent inorganic content of char had great effect on hydrogen production. Ni based biomass char exhibited the highest catalytic activity in terms of hydrogen production. Besides, Ni and Fe based coal char had catalytic activity on H₂ production. On the other hand, the results showed that biomass char was not thermally stable under steam pyrolysis conditions. Weight loss of catalyst during steam pyrolysis could be attributed to steam gasification of biomass char itself. In contrast, properties of coal char based catalysts after steam pyrolysis process remained nearly unchanged, leading to better thermal stability than biomass char.     

Gasification of torrefied oil palm biomass in a fixed-bed reactor: Effects of gasifying agents on product characteristics

Gasification represents an attractive pathway to generate fuel gas (i.e., syngas (H₂ and CO) and hydrocarbons) from oil palm biomass in Malaysia. Torrefaction is introduced here to enhance the oil palm biomass properties prior to gasification. In this work, the effect of torrefaction on the gasification of three oil palm biomass, i.e., empty fruit bunches (EFB), mesocarp fibres (MF), and palm kernel shells (PKS) are evaluated. Two gasifying agents were used, i.e., CO₂ and steam. The syngas lower heating values (LHV_syngas) for CO₂ gasification and steam gasification were in the range of 0.35–1.67 MJ m⁻³ and 1.61–2.22 MJ m⁻³, respectively. Compared with EFB and MF, PKS is more effective for fuel gas production as indicated by the more dominant emission of light hydrocarbons (CH₄, C₂H₄, and C₂H₆) in PKS case. Gasification efficiency was examined using carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) and cold gas efficiency (CGE). CCE ranges between 4% and 55.1% for CO₂ gasification while CGE varies between 4.8% and 46.2% and 27.6% and 62.9% for CO₂ gasification and steam gasification, respectively. Our results showed that higher concentration of gasifying agent promotes higher carbon conversion and that steam gasification provides higher thermal efficiency (CGE) compared to CO₂ gasification.