Hydrogen production by high-temperature steam gasification of biomass and coal
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
High-temperature steam gasification of paper, yellow pine woodchips, and Pittsburgh bituminous coal was investigated in a batch-type flow reactor at temperatures in the range of 700 to 1,200{sup o}C at two different ratios of steam to feedstock molar ratios. Hydrogen yield of 54.7% for paper, 60.2% for woodchips, and 57.8% for coal was achieved on a dry basis, with a steam flow rate of 6.3 g/min at steam temperature of 1,200{sup o}C. Yield of both the hydrogen and carbon monoxide increased while carbon dioxide and methane decreased with the increase in gasification temperature. A 10-fold reduction in tar residue was obtained at high-temperature steam gasification, compared to low temperatures. Steam and gasification temperature affects the composition of the syngas produced. Higher steam-to-feedstock molar ratio had negligible effect on the amount of hydrogen produced in the syngas in the fixed-batch type of reactor. Gasification temperature can be used to control the amounts of hydrogen or methane produced from the gasification process. This also provides mean to control the ratio of hydrogen to CO in the syngas, which can then be processed to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuel since the liquid fuel production requires an optimum ratio between hydrogen and CO. The syngas produced can be further processed to produce pure hydrogen. Biomass fuels are good source of renewable fuels to produce hydrogen or liquid fuels using controlled steam gasification.
- OSTI ID:
- 21176829
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Engineering Science, Vol. 26, Issue 4; ISSN 1092-8758
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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