Sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR): a direct route towards efficient hydrogen production from biomass‐derived compounds

Abstract

OVERVIEW: Efficient conversion of biomass to hydrogen is imperative in order to realize sustainable hydrogen production. Sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR) is an emerging technology to produce high purity hydrogen directly from biomass‐derived oxygenates, by integrating steam reforming, water‐gas shift and CO2 separation in one‐stage. Factors such as simplicity of the hydrogen production process, flexibility in feedstock, high hydrogen yield and low cost, make the SESR process attractive for biomass conversion to fuels. IMPACT: Recent work has demonstrated that SESR of biomass‐derived oxygenates has greater potential than conventional steam reforming for hydrogen production. The flexibility of SESR processes resides in the diversity of feedstocks, which can be gases (e.g. biogas, syngas from biomass gasification), liquids (e.g. bioethanol, glycerol, sugars or liquid wastes from biomass processing) and solids (e.g. lignocellulosic biomass). SESR can be developed to realize a simple biomass conversion process but with high energy efficiency. APPLICATIONS: Hydrogen production by SESR of biomass‐derived compounds can be integrated into existing oil refineries and bio‐refineries for hydrotreating processing, making the production of gasoline and diesel greener. Moreover, hydrogen from SESR can be directly fed to fuel cells for power generation. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

High temperature CO2 sorbents and their application for hydrogen production by sorption enhanced steam reforming process

“…Compared to the traditional steam reforming, the in-situ CO 2 removal increases glycerol and steam conversions as well as hydrogen purity [213,214]. Moreover, the in-situ CO 2 capture during the steam glycerol reforming decreases the risk of coke formation and the reforming reactions can be carried out at relatively low steam/carbon ratios [211]. Dou et al [213] provided an overview on some issues and challenges of SESGR process such as selecting suitable sorbents, extending operation time, and finding a way for continuous reaction/regeneration in order to achieve high-efficiency hydrogen production from SESGR process.…”

“…Up to date, the market price of crude glycerol is between 25 and 46 $/ton, which is significantly lower than that of purified glycerol (55-78 $/ton) [211]. The SESR of crude glycerol becomes therefore more attractive for a low price H 2 production.…”

“…Therefore, extensive works were directed on the development of alternative renewable sources such as water and biomass or biomassderived oxygenates. Glycerol, a by-product of the transesterification of renewable biological sources (i.e., vegetable oils and animal fat oils), may be considered an interesting renewable source of hydrogen [209][210][211][212][213]. The production of 10 kg of biodiesel generates around 1 kg of crude glycerol [209].…”

Hydrogen and carbon dioxide adsorption with tetra‐n‐butyl ammonium semi‐clathrate hydrates for gas separations

“…1,2 The use of biomass as a renewable resource can reduce CO 2 emissions, but there is still the question of its application in practical systems. 3,4 Upgrading 5-7 and reforming 8,9 technologies that give biogas derived from biomass are being examined because the sources are secure, clean, and efficient. In distributed energy systems, reducing the investment cost of the upgrading or reforming equipment is important due to the small scale of the applications.…”

JCTB editorial for January 2013

“…Continuing our line of flagship, Emerging Technologies, articles was a paper by Professor De Chen et al . that looked at sorption enhanced steam reforming as an emerging technology to produce hydrogen from biomass, while an interesting Perspective article by Dr Humphrey Yiu and Professor Mark A. Keane considered the use of magnetic nanoparticles as support for enzymes for the synthesis of high value chemicals . There have also been a number of impressive Review and Mini‐review papers, but the two most highly downloaded examples were a Mini‐review by Professor Om Singh et al .…”