Potential of hydrogen production from biomass

An experimental study of hydrogen production from biomass was conducted using a bench-scale fluidized bed gasifier. Parametric experiments were performed to determine the effects of reaction temperature, steam to biomass ratio (S/B), equivalence ratio (ER) and catalysts. The catalysts used were dolomites and nickel-based catalysts and were located in gasifier and a downstream fixed reactor, respectively. Of the conditions tested without catalysts, hydrogen yield ranges between 22 and 71 g H-2 per kg of biomass (wet basis) and hydrogen yield potential ranges between 115 and 223 g H-2 per kg of biomass (wet basis). The experimental results prove that higher reaction temperature; proper ER and S/B will contribute to more hydrogen production. Dolomites and nickel-based catalysts show to be very active and useful for increasing hydrogen yield and gas conditioning.