A Study on the Integrated Process for Hydrogen-rich Gas Production from Biomass

In this article, the integrated process technology is introduced for production of hydrogen, which incorporates pyrolysis of biomass and catalytic steam reforming. The process adopts a fluidized bed reactor for pyrolysis and a fixed bed reactor for steam reforming, in which technological parameters, such as pyrolysis temperature, ratio of steam over biomass, reforming temperature, gas hourly space velocity, catalyst size, and the life of the catalyst, were investigated in order to conclude their effects on the hydrogen production. Results from experiments indicate the concentration of hydrogen in the gaseous product and thus the hydrogen yield increases as both operation temperatures of pyrolysis and reforming increase while catalyst size reduces. The increase in steam over biomass, however, results in hydrogen yield varying from increase to decrease.