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conferenceseries
.com
Volume 8, Issue 5 (Suppl)
J Bioremediat Biodegrad, an open access journal
ISSN: 2155-6199
Biofuels Congress 2017
September 05-06, 2017
September 05-06, 2017 | London, UK
Biofuels and Bioenergy
6
th
World Congress on
Pyro-gasification of agri-crop residue for Hydrogen production: A pilot process demonstration
Amit Kunte, Nitin Somkuwar, Renny Andrew, Gokak D.T., Shalini Gupta
Statement of the Problem
: The demand for hydrogen is likely to increase in future, which is driven by stringent product
specification in oil refineries in the near term and hydrogen becoming an energy carrier in the long term. With rising prices
of fossil fuels and depleting natural gas reserves, gasification route is believed to gain more ground as an alternative process to
conventional hydrogen production technologies. Here, a total steam gasification process has been developed and demonstrated
at pilot scale (0.5- 1 kg/h biomass processing capacity).
Methodology
: Any ligno-cellulosic biomass is understood as a polymeric structure containing C, H, N, O and few metals in
different proportions. Typically, a conventional gasification process yields CO, CO
2
and H2; where a major portion of the carbon
in the biomass is lost as CO
2
. Here, a novel process was conceptualized on the basis of superheated steam aided enhanced-
elemental extraction from biomass at high temperature. The biomass is treated purely by high temperature steam (~300-
400oC) at elevated temperature (700- 750oC). The elemental analysis of biomass suggests a nearly equi-molar composition of C
and O in biomass. More than 90% convertible portion of the biomass turns majorly into CO and H
2
. CO
2
is formed marginally
as there was no additional O2 or air supply. CO was then converted into H2 and CO2 by Water-Gas-Shift reaction in a fixed
bed reactor.
Findings
: The process was established at pilot scale (1 kg biomass/h) to achieve 90% conversion of ash free basis. Parametric
optimization for hydrogen production from steam gasification of biomass has been done for operating parameters i.e. steam
to biomass ratio, temperature and residence time. Salient feature in the process is control of biomass residence time and gas
residence time in the reactor by adjusting rotating drive rpm and vacuum levels respectively.
Conclusion & Significance
: This process exemplifies a robust approach for clean production of hydrogen from agri-residues
and provides a potential and alternate way to produce hydrogen for petroleum refineries.
rplaza_cl@yahoo.comJ Bioremediat Biodegrad 2017, 8:5(Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2155-6199-C1-009