Production of hydrogen gas from biomass oil palm empty fruit bunch using electrolysis method

Abstract

Biomass oil palm empty fruit bunch (OPEFB) is a sustainable source for hydrogen production. OPEFB and FeCl 3 .6H 2 O oxidizers (0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mol) were refluxed at 90-98 ° C for 5 hours. The acquired aliquot was used to produce H 2 with variation of storage time (fresh aliquot and old aliquot). The production of H 2 was carried out by electrolysis method where the aliquot was diluted by ratio of 1:10. The electrolysis was carried out using two electrodes as anode (titanium) and cathode (stainless steel) with DC current voltage 15 V. The principle of gas mass transfer in the vessel following Bernoulli's principle was used to calculate the volume of H 2 formed. The change of current by formation of H 2 were used to calculate the volume of H2 following Faraday’s law. The results showed that the storage time of the solution affects the production time of H 2 . The oxidizer concentration has no effect on the H 2 production in the fresh solution but has effect on the old solution. The best solution to produce H 2 is a 0.1 mol oxidizer solution with a production time of 8 minutes. The produced H 2 can be used in power generation by a fuel cell process.