Hydrogen production via biomass gasification
Student name: Mr Aditya Mahajan
Guide: Dr Priyanka Kaushal
Year of completion: 2018
Host Organisation: TechnipFMC
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Ms Kalpana Gupta
Abstract: The mathematical modeling and technical feasibility of hydrogen production from biomass
through indirectly heated gasifier were studied. Detailed process modeling was done using
EDraw Max software and simulation was done using MS-Excel. Six different biomass
materials were studied for the producer gas composition and hydrogen production potential.
The model was then scaled to meet the demand of the gas production rate of 10000 Nm3 per
hour. A sensitivity analysis was done for the process to determine the impact of moisture
content in the feedstock on gas production rate and hydrogen recovery potential.
In this study, Battelle Columbus Laboratory (BCL) gasifier was used. Since gasification is an
endothermic process, the heat required was supplied by combusting the char. Sand is used
as a circulating material in this process. Hydrogen production was achieved using hightemperatures
(HT) and low-temperatures (LT) shift reactors and a Pressure Swing Absorption
(PSA) system. The process is very similar to the existing technology for hydrogen production
in the refineries and petroleum industries through natural gas steam reforming.
Wood chips were found to be the most suitable feedstock for this process. The plant size was
estimated at 300T/day producing 10750 Nm3 of hydrogen every hour. The gasifier crosssectional
area (A) was calculated to be 0.63 m2 with the length-to-diameter ratio (L/D) of
27.56. To supply the air required for combustion of char, a forced draught (FD) fan is
required of 38 HP and a boiler of 250 HP is required to deliver the required steam for the
gasification process.
The economic feasibility of this technology remains to be established for small, medium and
large-scale projects.
Keywords: BCL, gasifier, Hydrogen, Vermont, Modelling
