Simulation of Gasification Technology on Multiple Feedstocks Using ICON for Rich H2 Production

The use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel is gaining more acceptance as the
environmental impact of hydrocarbons becomes obvious. There have many ways of
alternative hydrogen production such as electrolysis, pyrolysis and gasification of
biomass. Gasification coupled with gas shift is the most widely practiced process route
for biomass to hydrogen. Thermal, steam and partial oxidation gasification technologies
are under development around the world. The feedstocks may include agricultural and
forest product residues of hard wood, soft wood and herbaceous species. However, the
production efficiency (the amount of gaseous energy recovery from the feedstock used
to produce hydrogen) must be improved and an infrastructure for efficiently transporting
and distributing hydrogen is to be developed. This research project was carried out to
simulate the gasification technology using multi feed stock basis where to find ways to
obtain rich hydrogen gas. The raw materials that choosen as feedstock are empty fruit
bunches, rice husk and rubber wood. The parameters that were investigated are reactor
temperature is 900°C and steam/biomass ratio between 0.7-0.9 to obtain maximum
hydrogen yield. The percentages of error of simulation compared to experimental data
for hydrogen production is between 30% to 40%. Based on the comparison with
experimental that done by Laohalidanond et.al (2006). At the end, the economic
feasibility ofthe hydrogen production was investigated.