Hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water using concentrated solar energy: System development and proof of concept

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.02.023
• Publication Date: 2010-03-15T05:43:45Z
• Authors: Jingwei Chen; Youjun Lu; Liejin Guo; Ximin Zhang; Peng Xiao
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering; 02 engineering and technology; 7. Clean energy; 6. Clean water; 12. Responsible consumption

Abstract A novel system of hydrogen production by biomass gasification in supercritical water using concentrated solar energy has been constructed, installed and tested at the State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering (SKLMF). The “proof of concept” tests for solar-thermal gasification of biomass in supercritical water (SCW) were successfully carried out. Biomass model compounds (glucose) and real biomass (corn meal, wheat stalk) were gasified continuously with the novel system to produce hydrogen-rich gas. The effect of direct normal solar irradiation (DNI) and catalyst on gasification of biomass was also investigated. The results showed that the maximal gasification efficiency (the mass of product gas/the mass of feedstock) in excess of 110% were reached, hydrogen fraction in the gas product also approached to 50%. The experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the system and the advantage of the process, which supports future work to address the technical issues and develop the technology of solar-thermal hydrogen production by gasification of biomass in supercritical water.