Analysis of Bio-h2 Production Routes from Biomass Gasification

Abstract

The use of hydrogen (H2) as an energy carrier may have an important role in the near future. Nowadays, H2 is mostly produced from fossil fuels, thus, it is urgent to prove the viability of alternative and sustainable processes to obtain H2. Gasification of renewable sources like biomass that are widely available, inexpensive and carbon-neutral is considered a viable technical, economic and environmental alternative for H2 production. The first step of biohydrogen (bio-H2) production through biomass gasification is the production of syngas (gasification gas). Syngas cleaning and upgrading procedures are essential to remove undesirable compounds and to increase bio-H2 content. Steam reforming and water gas shift reactions are also crucial to increase bio-H2 content in syngas. Next, bio-H2 separation from other gaseous compounds is needed to finally obtain bio-H2 at the required purification level. Although some of the mentioned technologies are proven and available on the market for similar applications, some drawbacks and technological challenges for the overall process need to be overcome to improve the overall techno-economic feasibility. This paper aims to analyse and discuss different bio-H2 production routes from biomass gasification to c the most promising ones.