Parametric Gasification of Oak and Pine Feedstocks Using the TCPDU and Slipstream Water-Gas Shift Catalysis

With oak and pine feedstocks, the Gasification of Biomass to Hydrogen project maximizes hydrogen production using the Full Stream Reformer during water-gas shift fixed-bed reactor testing. Results indicate that higher steam-to-biomass ratio and higher thermal cracker temperature yield higher hydrogen concentration. NREL's techno-economic models and analyses indicate hydrogen production frombiomass may be viable at an estimated cost of $1.77/kg (current) and $1.47/kg (advanced in 2015). To verify these estimates, NREL used the Thermochemical Process Development Unit (TCPDU), an integrated system of unit operations that investigates biomass thermochemical conversion to gaseous and liquid fuels and chemicals.