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There are no processes commercially available for centralized hydrogen production from

biomass. Some pilot plants are actually in the development phase, and some processes are

still in various stages of research and pre-development. Hydrogen can not be produced

from biomass in a single process. Generally, solid biomass (wood, straw, etc.) is converted

to a hydrogen-containing biogas through gasification, which may be used as such for

energy production. Biogas may be subsequently purified or steam reformed in order to

obtain pure hydrogen. Biomass can also be converted to a number of liquid biofuels, such

as bio-diesel, methanol and ethanol, from which hydrogen may be extracted through a

reforming process, similar to the existing processes for fossil fuels.

The recent Biomass Action Plan of the EU aims to encourage the use of all kinds of

biomass for renewable energy production. An EU Strategy for Biofuelshas recently been

proposed by the EC (Communication, February 2006) to promote the production and use of

biofuels, through the optimised cultivation of dedicated feedstocks, research on "second

generation" biofuels, and the removal of non-technical barriers. First-generation biofuels

can be used in blends with conventional fuels and can be distributed through the existing

infrastructure. According to the communication, with the technologies currently available,

EU-produced biodiesel breaks even at oil prices around 60 per barrel, while bioethanol

becomes competitive with oil prices of about 90 per barrel.

Interestingly, in the above communication, biofuels are considered as alternative fuels for

transport, among other alternatives, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed

natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hydrogen. So, hydrogen production

from biomass through biofuels is actually in competition with the direct use of biofuels.

Biomass power makes up 19% of the total renewable electricity in the USA, and most of this

power (62%) is produced from wood residues generated by the forestry industry, urban

wood waste, and pulp and paper mills. While this power is largely generated by direct-fired

combustion, which operates at about 20% efficiency, the same biomass can also be used in

37% efficient integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) technologies [1].Slightly higher

efficiencies are expected by combining gasification or pyrolysis, with steam reforming and

the water-gas shift reaction to produce hydrogen converted to electricity through fuel cells.Although gasification technology has been tested at scales as large as approximately

15000 kg of biomass per hour, biomass conversion to hydrogen has only been tested in

systems equivalent to 10 kg of biomass per hour[1].

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Biomass typically contains only about 6% (by weight) hydrogen [1], and the real need to

convert biomass to hydrogen instead of using it directly for energy production or in the form

of a biofuel is still a matter of debate.

Translate

Tidak ada proses yang tersedia secara komersial untuk produksi hidrogen terpusat dari

biomassa . Beberapa tanaman percontohan sebenarnya dalam tahap pengembangan , dan

beberapa proses yang masih dalam berbagai tahap penelitian dan pra - pembangunan.

Hidrogen tidak dapat diproduksi dari biomassa dalam suatu proses tunggal . Umumnya ,

biomassa padat ( kayu , jerami , dll ) dikonversi menjadi biogas yang mengandung hidrogen

melalui gasifikasi , yang dapat digunakan seperti untuk produksi energi . Biogas dapatkemudian dimurnikan atau uap direformasi untuk mendapatkan hidrogen murni . Biomassa

juga dapat dikonversi ke sejumlah biofuel cair, seperti bio - diesel , metanol dan etanol , dari

mana hidrogen dapat diekstraksi melalui proses reformasi , mirip dengan proses yang ada

untuk bahan bakar fosil .

Rencana Aksi Biomassa baru-baru ini Uni Eropa bertujuan untuk mendorong penggunaan

semua jenis biomassa untuk produksi energi terbarukan . Strategi Uni Eropa untuk biofuel

baru-baru ini diusulkan oleh Komisi Eropa ( Komunikasi , Februari 2006) untuk

mempromosikan produksi dan penggunaan biofuel , melalui budidaya dioptimalkan bahanbaku berdedikasi , penelitian tentang " generasi kedua " biofuel , dan penghapusan non -

teknis hambatan . Biofuel generasi pertama dapat digunakan dalam campuran dengan

bahan bakar konvensional dan dapat didistribusikan melalui infrastruktur yang ada .

Menurut komunikasi , dengan teknologi yang tersedia saat , diproduksi Uni Eropa biodiesel

impas dengan harga minyak sekitar 60 per barel , sedangkan bioetanol menjadi kompetitif

dengan harga minyak sekitar 90 per barel .

Menariknya , dalam komunikasi di atas , biofuel dianggap sebagai bahan bakar alternatif

untuk transportasi , di antara alternatif lain , seperti gas alam cair ( LNG ) , gas alamterkompresi ( CNG ) , bahan bakar gas cair ( LPG ) dan hidrogen . Jadi , produksi hidrogen

dari biomassa melalui biofuel sebenarnya bersaing dengan penggunaan langsung biofuel .

Listrik biomassa membuat naik 19 % dari total listrik terbarukan di Amerika Serikat , dan

sebagian besar kekuatan ini ( 62 % ) dihasilkan dari sisa-sisa kayu yang dihasilkan oleh

industri kehutanan , limbah kayu perkotaan , dan pabrik pulp dan kertas . Sementara

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kekuatan ini sebagian besar dihasilkan oleh langsung dipecat pembakaran , yang

beroperasi pada efisiensi sekitar 20 % , biomassa yang sama juga dapat digunakan di 37 %

efisien terintegrasi gasifikasi gabungan siklus ( IGCC ) teknologi [ 1 ] . Efisiensi sedikit lebih

tinggi diharapkan dengan menggabungkan gasifikasi atau pirolisis , dengan steam

reforming dan reaksi pergeseran air - gas untuk menghasilkan hidrogen diubah menjadi

listrik melalui sel bahan bakar . Meskipun teknologi gasifikasi telah diuji pada skala yang

besar seperti sekitar 15'000 kg biomassa per jam , konversi biomassa menjadi hidrogen

hanya diuji dalam sistem setara dengan 10 kg biomassa per jam [ 1 ] .

Biomassa biasanya hanya berisi sekitar 6 % ( berat ) hidrogen [ 1 ] , dan kebutuhan nyata

untuk mengkonversi biomassa menjadi hidrogen daripada menggunakan secara langsung

untuk produksi energi atau dalam bentuk biofuel masih menjadi bahan perdebatan

Biomass Resources

As an energy source, biomass has several important advantages. Renewability is obviously

a key feature but the heterogenous composition and the extreme diversity of biomass

feedstocks is one of the principal limits. The list of plant species, byproducts and waste

materials that can potentially be used as feedstock is almost endless (a non exhaustive list

is presented in table 1).

Table 1: Overview of world biomass production and international trade in 2004.

Biomass products World Production in2004

Volume of international trade in2004

Industrial wood and forestproducts

1

Industrial round wood 1646 Mm 121 Mm

Wood chips and particles 197 Mm 37 Mm

Sawn timber 416 Mm 130 Mm

Pulp for paper production 189 Mt 42 Mt

Paper and paperboard 354 Mt 111 Mt

Agricultural Products Maize 725 Mt 83 Mt

Wheat 630 Mt 118 Mt

Barley 154 Mt 22 Mt

Oats 26 Mt 2,5 Mt

Rye 18 Mt 2 Mt

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Rice 608 Mt 28 Mt

Palm Oil 37 Mt 23 Mt

Rapeseed 46 Mt 8,5 Mt

Rapeseed oil 16 Mt 2,5 Mt

Solid and liquid Biofuels

Ethanol 41 Mm3 3,5 Mm3

Biodiesel 3,5 Mt < 0,5 Mt

Fuel Wood 1772 Mm3 3,5 Mm3

Charcoal 44 Mt 1 Mt

Wood pellets 4 Mt 1 Mt

(1Source FAOSTAT, 2006; 2FAOSTAT and Indexmundi, 2006;3(Rosillo-Calle & Walter,

2006)

Major resources in biomass include agricultural crops and their waste byproducts,

lignocellulosic products such as wood and wood waste, waste from food processing and

aquatic plants and algae, and effluents produced in the human habitat. Moderately-dried

wastes such as wood residue, wood scrap and urban garbage can be burned directly as

fuel. Energy from water-containing biomass such as sewage sludge, agricultural and

livestock effluents as well as animal excreta is recovered mainly by microbial fermentation.

The distribution of biomass use as an energy primary source shows the predominant

position of wood with 76% of energy production from biomass in 2002 in Europe

(referfigurebelow).

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Composition of energy production from biomass and wastes (62 Mtoe, 2600 PJ) in the EU25 in

2002 (source: VTT).

Biomass as energy source is characterized in the form of both flow and stock. The amount

of global forest is estimated at 700 billion tons and acts as storage of carbon dioxide.

Available energy flow from forest is enormous and estimated to be 5 billion tons in

petroleum equivalent.

A distinction can be made between the use of dry biomass such as wood and the use of wet

biomass sources such as the organic fraction of domestic waste, agro-industrial wastes and

slurries, and wastewater. Dry biomass should be used preferentially for thermal conversion

processes that require a low water content such as green electricity generation (via

combustion or gasification) or the production of renewable substitute natural gas (SNG) or

biofuels through gasification, followed by Methanation (Boerrigteret al., 2006;

Mozaffarianet al., 2006) or Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (Hamelincket al., 2004).

Wet biomass and residues are less suitable for thermal conversion because transport and

drying require a considerable amount of energy, which leads to a limited or even negative

overall carbon dioxide reduction. The available amount of wet biomass and residues is

however considerable, so that their use as feedstock for renewable energy production iscertainly worth while. Biotechnological conversion processes are particularly useful for this

application because they are catalysed by microorganisms in an aqueous environment at

low temperature and pressure. Furthermore these techniques are well suited for

decentralised energy production in small-scale installations in locations where biomass or

wastes are available, thus avoiding energy expenditure and costs for transport. The general

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expectation is that biotechnological processes will play a substantial role in the production

of renewable gaseous and liquid biofuels including hydrogen (Claassenet al., 1999; Kosaric

& Velikonja, 1995).

Analysis of biomass potential in Europe

In December 2005 the European commission launched a "Biomass Action Plan"[2].It is part

of the overall EU objectives of improving competitiveness, sustainability, and security of

supply. The Action Plan sets out measures to increase the development of biomass energy

from wood, wastes and agricultural crops. It includes measures to promote biomass in

heating, electricity and transport, followed by cross-cutting measures affecting biomass

supply, financing and research. In the area of heating and electricity the Commission will,

among others, work towards a proposal for Community legislation in 2006 to encourage the

use of renewable energy, including biomass, for heating and cooling; study how to improve

the performance of household biomass boilers and reduce pollution; encourage the

modernisation and conversion of district heating schemes to biomass fuel; and to closely

monitor the implementation of the RES-E Directive.

According to Hall (Hall, 1997) biomass energy supply in 1997 was at least 2 EJ/y in

Western Europe, representing about 4% of the primary energy use of 54 EJ. Estimates

show a likely potential in Europe in 2050 of 9.013.5 EJ/y depending on land areas (10% of

useable land, 33 Mha), yields (1015 oven-dry tonnes/ha/a), and recoverable residues

(25% of harvestable). The proportion of the current bioenergy use of the total potential in

Europe is 22% (Parikka, 2004) showing a large energy potential for biomass. Estimates ofbiomass energy use in EU25 in 2004 (EurObservEr, 2005) amounted to 2.8 EJ

corresponding to about 4% of the gross inland energy consumption. Biomass availability in

Europe has recently been evaluated in the project "Bioenergys role in the EU Energy

Market".

Biofuels (biodiesel, bio ethanol...) are considered as alternative fuels for transport, among

other alternatives, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG),

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hydrogen. So, the hydrogen production pathway is

actually in competition with the production of other biofuels for the resources.

Some results (table 2) indicate that significant biomass is available to support ambitious and

diversify renewable energy targets in 2010, 2020 and 2030, even after taking environmental

constraints into account. The environmentally-compatible biomass potential would be in line

with other environmental policies and objectives. However, safeguarding biodiversity, and

soil and water resources requires that detailed environmental guidelines become an integral

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part of planning processes at all levels of decision making. The potential for achieving co-

benefits between biomass production and nature conservation will have to be further

explored and adapted to local environnemental conditions.

Table 2:European Biomass production potential

Mtoe Europe BiomassConsumption 2003

Potential2010

Potential2020

Potential2030

Wood direct from forest 40 43 39 - 45 39 - 72

Organic wastes, wood industryresidues, agricultural food

processing residues, manure27 100 100 102

Energy crops from agriculture 2 43 - 46 76 - 94 102 - 142

Total, Mtoe 69 (2,9 EJ)

186 - 189

(7,8 - 7,9 EJ)

215 - 239

(9,0 - 10 EJ)

243 - 316 (10

- 13 EJ)

(source : VTT), the projections have been done with an assumption with a tax of a 65 per

tons of CO2emitted (source : EEA[3]).

Process Routes of Hydrogen Production from Biomass

Biomass is generated from a great number of different "renewable" sources, such as forest

and crop residues, municipal solid waste and dedicated energy crops. It can be converted

to gaseous fuels such as biogas and liquid fuels, among which the most important are

biodiesel and bioethanol. There are several pathways (referfigurebelow) available for the

conversion of biomass to hydrogen, generally compatible with existing technologies,

because fossil fuels also originate from biomass, but through a very long CO2 - absorption

cycle.

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Strategies for production from lignocellulosic biomass (Source : (Huber & Dumesic, 2006)

The technologies available for the conversion to hydrogen, namely biomass gasification,

pyrolysis and reforming of biomass-derived fuels, are the same as the ones used for fossil

fuels, since the latter have a similar organic origin. The main differences are due to the

chemical composition variations of the biomass feedstock available and the fact that

CO2emissions related to biomass, produced in a rapid CO2-absorption cycle are not taken

into account. Key challenges to hydrogen production via biomass gasification involvereducing costs associated with capital equipment and biomass feedstocks. New membrane

technologies are needed to separate and purify hydrogen from the CO2 rich gas stream

produced, similar to coal gasification. Processes may be combined into fewer operations,

intensifying the process.

Biological conversion of biomass to hydrogen is still at lab scale but keep a great evolution

potential and the largest environmental benefits.

Biomass has the potential to accelerate the realization of hydrogen as a major fuel of the

future. Since biomass is renewable and consumes atmospheric CO2 impact compared tofossil fuels. However, hydrogen from biomass has major net CO2challenges. There are no

completed technology demonstrations. The yield of hydrogen is low from biomass due to

the low hydrogen content in biomass (approximately 6% versus 25% for methane) and to

the low energy content because of the 40% oxygen content of biomass. Since over half of

the hydrogen from biomass comes from splitting water in the steam reforming reaction, the

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energy content of the feedstock is an inherent limitation of the processes. The yield of

hydrogen as a function of oxygen content is shown infigurebelow.

Theoretical yield of hydrogen as a function of the oxygen content in the feed. (Source: IEA)

The low yield of hydrogen on a proportion weight basis is misleading since the energy

conversion efficiency is high. For example, the steam reforming of bio-oil at 825C with a

five fold excess of steam demonstrated at the lab scale has an energy efficiency of 56%. In

contrast the conversion of wood pellets to hydrogen by steam gasification has a closed

conversion efficiency with 55%[4].

However, the cost for growing, harvesting and transporting biomass is high. Thus, even with

reasonable energy efficiencies, it is not presently economically competitive with natural gas

steam reforming for stand-alone hydrogen without the advantage of high-value co-products.

Additionally, as with all sources of hydrogen, production from biomass will require

appropriate hydrogen storage, transport infrastructure and utilization systems to be

developed and deployed.

Biomass conversion technologies can be divided into two categories : 1) direct production

routes and 2) conversion of storable intermediates. Direct routes have the advantage of

simplicity and indirect routes have additional production steps, but offer an advantage in

that there can be distributed production of the intermediates, minimizing the transportation

costs of the biomass. The intermediates can then be shipped to a central, larger-scale

hydrogen production facility. Both classes have thermochemical and biological routes.

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A third area of hydrogen from biomass is metabolic processing to split water via

photosynthesis or to perform the shift reaction by photo biological organisms. The photo-

biological production of hydrogen is presented it is an area of long-term research and is

covered in a separate IEA Task (IEA Hydrogen Agreement Task 15, Photobiological

Production of Hydrogen). The use of microorganisms to perform the shift reaction is of great

relevance to hydrogen production because of the potential to reduce carbon monoxide

levels in the product gas far below the level attained using water gas shift catalysts and,

hence, eliminate final CO scrubbing for fuel cell applications. The following serves as an

introduction to the areas reviewed in this report. Figure 2 shows the technologies that are

reviewed in this report.

Read more onThermochemical conversion of biomassor onMicrobial conversion of

biomass.

Main Metrics

The table of the main metrics for the biomass hydrogen technology are given in the table

below.

METRIC SUB METRICDATA /RATING UNITS

Biomass(wood,

straw...)

Technology

Accessibility

Compatibility with existingtechnologies

Rating 0-4 2

Number of producers Data number 0Possibility of extending

existing raffineriesRating 0-4 2

GlobalEnvironmental

Impact(to be

coordinated withECN)

GHG emissions associatedwith fuel production

DatagCO2 eq /

kg fuel0

CO2 emissions associatedwith fuel production

DatagCO2 / kg

fuel0

LocalEnvironmental

Impact(to becoordinated with

ECN)

Air quality impact (considerNOx, PM, CO, NMHC)

Rating 0-4 N/A

Noise or perception of noisefrom fuel production facilities

Data/Rating dB(A),sone

N/A

Land use / damage to nature Rating 0-4 N/A

Efficiency

Part load energy efficiency oftechnology

Data %

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Energy efficiency of auxiliaryfacilities

Data % N/A

Capacity &

Availability(to becoordinated with

ECN)

Measured fuel production /supply

Datakg fuel /

yearN/A

Maximum fuel production /

supply (capacity) Data

kg fuel /

year N/A

Number of hours per yearenergy is available (regularuse - maintenance hours,

expected repairs or failures)

Datahours /

yearN/A

Cost(clickherefor more

datails)

Capital investment for fuelproduction facilities

Data /capacity646 /kW (652US$/kW 1071US$/kg/d)[5]

Operational / maintenancecost (labour, electric energycost, service, cost of other

materials etc.)

Data /year

58986287 /yr(59534000

US$/yr, 150000

kg/d)[5]

Decommisioning cost Data /capacity N/A

Selling price of fuel produced Data /kg 4-9 /kWh

Safety(to be

coordinated withTNO)

No. of incidents (shut-downs,fuel leakage, tech failure)

Data no. / year N/A

No. of accidents causing injuryto people, damage toproperty/environment

Data no. / year N/A

Comments to understand how this table has been filled up are given here under:

Readiness:1

Comment: Small units are available but still under development

Number of producers:0

Comment: There are more than 50 different processes studied at a laboratory scale, but

no commercial product is available from biomass to hydrogen.

Compatibility with existing technologies & infrastructures:3Comment: the transformation of biogas or biofuels to hydrogen is similar to the

processes available for fossil fuels

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Global Environmental Impact: to be defined

Considering that the CO2 produced during the process has been absorbed from the

atmosphere, the processes are almost perfectly clean from that point of view

Air Quality Impact: Traces of hydrogen may be released to the atmosphere through venting or in waste

gases

the eventual release of CO in the waste gases should be considered

the eventual formation of sulphur oxides should be considered, since the biomass

feedstock often contains sulphur

particulate matter release is also a matter of concern

Noise Impact:

Similar to the existing technologies for fossil fuels Land Use:

Similar to the existing technologies for fossil fuels except for feedstock storage, if

necessary, with increased land use requirements (with respect to factories yes, but more

relevant here is land use for crops etc)

Efficiency at rated loading:< 50%

Comment: This figure corresponds to the efficiency conversion from biomass to a

hydrogen containing gas. The efficiency is expected to decrease significantly in the

subsequent steps for hydrogen production and purification

Efficiency at part load:< 50 %

Comment: see above

Efficiency of auxiliary systems:no data

Comment: The description of the systems is not detailed enough to understand which

are the auxiliary systems involved.

Capacity to meet users needs:2

Comment: The wide variation of feedstock composition presents technological problems

to be addressed but also a versatility to meet users needs.

Availability of the technology to be "in service":no data

Comment: there is no such plant in full operation, so the availability cannot be estimated

with any degree of precision

Lifetime of the technology:no data

Comment: there is no such plant in full operation, so the lifetime cannot be estimated

with any degree of precision

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Safety:

No data were found in the literature regarding biomass gasification plants. However,

safety issues similar to the ones for classical reforming of fossil fuels are expected.

Market/Diffusion

The production of hydrogen from biomass is still in an early phase of development, although

the gasification of biomass is slowly entering the market

Biomass gasification was largely used to power European cities and over a million wood

gasifiers were used to power cars and trucks during the 2ndWorld War. Yet, there are now

only a few companies manufacturing gasifier systems[7].Reed and Gaur have surveyed the

biomass gasification scene for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA) and the

Biomass Energy Foundation, covering the major types of large and small gasifiers systems,

gasifier research institutions and a list of most gasifier manufacturers

[8]

.The EERC (Energy & Environmental Research Center) has been helping the EER-GC

Corporation (a subsidiary of General Electric, USA) to develop a new hydrogen production

process from biomass. The process converts biomass to high-purity hydrogen suitable for

fuel cells through a novel steam-reforming process called unmixed reforming. Dual fluidized

reactors and a proprietary catalyst are used to economically convert biomass with moisture

levels up to 50% to hydrogen. In bench-scale tests, wood waste, switchgrass, and animal

manure have been tested in the process and successfully converted to high-purity

hydrogen.

Main industrial players

Since 1977 the firm Batelle has been developing an allothermal gasification process whose

commercialization is expected shortly. In Germany, DMT (Deutsche Montan Technologie) is

predominantly engaged in the development of a marketable allothermal gasifier, the actual

commercialization of which will probably be carried out by others. A third allothermal

gasification process is being developed in the USA by MTCI (Manufacturing and

Technology Conversion International). Autothermal gasification processes are being

developed by many European firms such as Ahlstrm, Gotaverken, HTW und Lurgi

GmbH[9]

From the wide variety of biomass gasification processes that are being developed, S. Babu

describes some processes suitable for hydrogen production[10].A few of these processes

are reported below.

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BIOSYN Gasification and Gas Conditioning Technologies

The BIOSYN gasification process was developed during the 1980s by BIOSYN Inc., a

subsidiary of Nouveler Inc., a division of Hydro-Quebec (Montral, Quebec, Canada).

The process is based on a bubbling fluidized bed gasifier containing a bed of silica or

alumina capable of operating up to 1.6 MPa. Extensive oxygen-blown biomass

gasification tests were conducted to produce synthesis gas for methanol production. Air

blown atmospheric gasification tests were also conducted for evaluating cogeneration.

In the following years, a 50kg/h BIOSYN process development unit has also proven the

feasibility of gasifying primary sludges, RDF, rubber residues (containing 5 - 15%

Kevlar), and granulated polyethylene and propylene residues.

The process accepts feed particle sizes up to 5 cm, feed bulk densities higher than 0.2

kg/l and feed moisture content up to 20%. The thermal efficiency for biomass

gasification varies from 70 to 80%. The product gas containing mostly CO, CO 2, and H2could be cleaned to remove carry over dust and condensable tar and upgraded to

produce essentially pure hydrogen. With air as the gasifying agent the HHV of the fuel

gas is about 6 MJ/Nm3. Enriched air, with 40% oxygen, can produce a fuel gas having a

HHV of about 12 MJ/Nm3 at half the gas yield. The raw gas cyclones remove 85 to 95%

of entrained particles. The BIOSYN Process fully integrated with hot-gas filtration and

high-temperature tar removal, and gas processing to convert CO to hydrogen and CO 2,

and CO2removal to produce pure hydrogen was never demonstrated[8].

FERCO SilvaGas ProcessThe FERCO SilvaGas Process employs the low-pressure Battelle (Columbus)

gasification process which consists of two physically separate reactors; a gasification

reactor in which the biomass is converted into a MCV gas and residual char at a

temperature of 850 to 1000C, and a combustion reactor that burns the residual char to

provide heat for gasification. Heat transfer between reactors is accomplished by

ciculating sand between the gasifier and combustor. Since the gasification reactions are

supported by indirect heating, the primary fuel gas is a medium calorific value fuel gas.

A typical product gas composition obtained in pilot plant tests, at steam to biomass

(wood chips) ratio of 0.45, is 21.22% H2, 43.17% CO, 13.46% CO2, 15.83% CH4, and

5.47% C2+. The estimated HHV of this fuel gas is 17.75 MJ/N cu.m. A 200 TPD capacity

Battelle demonstration gasification plant was built at the McNeil Power plant in

Burlington, Vermont. The fuel gas will be cooled for heat recovery, scrubbed, and

recompressed prior to energy conversion and recovery in a 15MWe gas turbine

system[11].

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MTCI Process

The MTCI gasification process employs indirect heating to promote steam gasification of

biomass to produce a MCV fuel gas. The gasifier combusts part of the fuel gas in pulsed

combustion burners which promote heat transfer to the gasification section. Extensive

pilot plant tests were conducted in a 20 TPD unit, including an evaluation of black liquor

gasification. Based on these tests, a 50 TPD capacity black liquor gasification

demonstration unit was built at Weyerhauser's New Bern facility. The black liquor is

steam reformed/gasified at an operating temperature of about 600C. The raw gas is

upgraded through several steps of gas cleanup, resulting in a synthesis gas rich in

hydrogen (>65% v) with a higher heating value (HHV) of approximately 10.4 MJ/m3

dry[8].

Fast Internal Circulation Fluidized Bed (FICFB) Process

The FICFB gasification reactor consists of a gasification zone and a combustion zone.

Inert, heat carrying bed material is circulated between these zones to transfer heat from

the combustion to the gasification zone, while separating the flue gases in the

combustion zone from the fuel gas produced in the gasification zone. Biomass is fed

into the gasification zone and gasified with steam at 850-900C and the thermal energy

provided by the circulating solids. As a result the gas produced in this zone is nearly free

of nitrogen. The bed material, together with the char left over from steam gasification, is

circulated to the combustion zone. This zone is fluidized with air to burn the char and

any carryover interstitial fuel gas. The product gas produced from the steam gasificationzone is a medium calorific value (MCV) synthesis gas rich in hydrogen. There is no need

for pure oxygen to produce the MCV gas in this process. A demonstration plant was

erected in Gssing, Burgenland, with a 8MWth feed capacity plant, an electric output of

2 MW and a thermal output of 4.5 MW. The total efficiency is 81.3%, taking into account

an electrical efficiency of 25% and a thermal efficiency of 56.3%[8].

R&D potential and perspectives

Hydrogen is recognized as one of the most promising energy carriers in the future. Many

investigations on various hydrogen production methods have been conducted over the past

several decades. Biomass is potentially a reliable energy resource for hydrogen production.

Biomass is renewable, abundant and easy to use. Over the life cycle, net CO2 emission is

nearly zero due to the photosynthesis of green plants. Biomass is the only direct way to

produce hydrogen from renewable energy without major technology breakthroughs. But

hydrogen production from biomass would compete with biofuels and CHP production. In

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general, as basic feedstock availability is limited, production from biomass will not benefit

from large economies of scale. Costs are expected to be high compared with coal

gasification or gas reforming. The thermochemical pyrolysis and gasification of biomass for

hydrogen production methods are economically viable and will become competitive has the

current conventional natural gas reforming method. The production of hydrogen from

biomass is still in an early phase of development, although the gasification of biomass is

slowly entering the market. Photo-electrolysis produces hydrogen using sunlight to

illuminate a water-immersed semiconductor that converts the light into chemical energy to

split water into hydrogen and oxygen. This method promises lower capital costs than

combined photovoltaic-electrolysis systems and it holds considerable potential for

technology breakthroughs. Test-scale devices have shown solar-to- hydrogen conversion

efficiencies of up to 16% (IEA, 2005), but cost estimates are premature. Biological dark

fermentation is also a promising hydrogen production method for commercial use in thefuture. These processes require genetic engineering to achieve significant levels of

hydrogen production. Much research is still needed to demonstrate feasibility. With further

development of these technologies, biomass will play an important role in the development

of sustainable hydrogen economy.

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