(537f) Production of Synthesis Gas and/or Hydrogen from Biomass Via Fast-Pyrolysis and Reforming Process

Biomass materials, such as switchgrass and cornstovers, are very potential to be used as renewable resources for producing syngas or hydrogen which are used either for generating electricity or producing chemicals. The utilization of biomass, however, is limited by the cost of transporting. In addition to the location for collecting biomass which is generally far away from hydrogen/syngas production facilities, biomass has a low energy density thus it is expensive to transport.

In an effort to resolve this issue, we are developing a system for producing syngas or hydrogen from biorenewable material to be used for fueling existing power plants. In this system, biorenewable materials, such as cornstovers, are collected and preprocessed locally to yield energy-rich bio-oil and porous char via fast pyrolysis. The char can be injected back to the soil or used for producing heat. The bio-oil, which can be thought as densified biomass (density is 1280 kg/m3 compared to approximately 160 kg/m3 for original biomass), is transported by tanker trucks to a power generating facility where it is steam reformed to either produce synthesis gas or hydrogen which will be used as clean fuel for generating power. The potential benefits of this system include: 1). Efficient and economically profitable utilization of abundant biomass which is otherwise considered waste, 2) Less consumption of expensive fossil fuel and natural gas which potentially reduce the cost of power generating and furthermore reduces emission of CO2.

To be discussed is the research work at Iowa State University in developing a process for producing bio-oil from biorenewable materials, such as cornstovers, that uses a 25kWth fast pyrolysis system which is equipped with a fractionating condenser system. The condenser system, developed at Iowa State University, yields bio-oil fractions containing very little lignin. Bio-oil reforming performance is improved if the lignin fraction is separated from the carbohydrate prior to reforming. The reformability of bio-oil to produce synthesis gas or hydrogen will be addressed. Effects of bio-oil composition and reaction conditions on the product yields will be discussed. Included in the discussion is the application of recently developed core-in-shell catalyst-sorbent material, which enables simultaneous hydrogen producing reactions and CO2 by-product separation to produce highly pure H2, for reforming bio-oil.