Economic feasible hydrogen production system from carbohydrate-rich food waste

Abstract

Food waste (FW) generation has been increased, and the environmental pollution and energy waste accompanying the conventional FW treatment system is a critical issue for achieving sustainable society. The H2 production from FW could be a promising approach to overcome the limitations of conventional FW treatment system, and this study presented large-scale FW treatment system for H2 production consisting of anaerobic digestion and steam methane reforming. A simulation model was developed based on the experimental kinetic data, and the economic feasibility was conducted based on the process variables and current economic parameters. In the proposed system producing 0.2 t/d of H2 from 50 t/d of FW, the minimum selling price is calculated as US$ 26.3/kg, and the major cost driver is capital cost of anerobic digestion reactor. The sensitivity analysis showed the effect of changes in plant capacity on the production cost and minimum selling price (MSP). When the processing capacity is increased to 2000 t/d, the MSP could be decreased to US$ 6.2/kg, which is comparable with fossil-based H2 price.