Chemical looping gasification of biomass for hydrogen enriched gas production with in-process carbon-dioxide capture

Abstract

The research presents an innovative idea of developing a continuous H 2 production process employing fluidized bed technology from agricultural biomass with in-situ CO2 capture and catalyst regeneration. Novelty of the process lies in the generation of relatively pure H2 from biomass with CO2 as a by-product using steam as the gasifying agent. Another unique feature of the process is internal regeneration of the catalyst, fouled in the gasifier. Thus, the technology will serve the twin purpose of regenerating the catalyst, and generation of N 2 free H2 and CO2. The work also reports the experimental results conducted in a batch type fluidized bed steam gasifier using CaO as the catalyst. A 71% concentration of H2 and nearly 0 concentration of CO2 were achieved in the product gas when sawdust was used as the feedstock. In a separate test using a circulating fluidized bed reactor as the regenerator, a 40 % regeneration of CaO was also achieved at a calcination temperature of 800°C.