Efficient Production and Economics of Clean-Fuel Hydrogen*

Abstract

This paper briefly discusses the following main issues: 1. The future of the hydrogen economy. 2. Thermo-chemistry of hydrogen production for different techniques of autothermal operation for different feedstocks. 3. Improvement of the hydrogen yield and minimization of reformer size by contining fast fluidization with hydrogen and oxygen membranes and with in-situ CO 2 sequestration. 4. Efficient production of hydrogen using a novel membrane-circulating fluidized-bed autothermal reformer. 5. Preliminary investigation of the economics of hydrogen production using these novel technologies. 6. Novel gasification process for the direct production of hydrogen from biomass. It is shown that a hydrogen economy is not a myth as some people advocate, and that with well-directed research it will represent a bright future for humanity to utilize a clean, everlasting fuel that is also free of deadly conflicts for the control of energy sources. It is also shown that efficient autothermal production of hydrogen using novel reformer configurations and a wide range of feedstock is a very promising route for achieving a successful hydrogen economy. A novel process for the production of hydrogen from different renewable biomass sources is presented and discussed. The process combines the principles of pyrolysis with the simultaneous use of catalysts, membranes and in-situ CO2 sequestration to produce pure hydrogen directly from the unit.