Hydrogen-Rich Gas Production from Pyrolysis of Biomass in an Autogenerated Steam Atmosphere

Abstract

Hydrogen-rich gas production from pyrolysis of biomass in an autogenerated steam atmosphere was proposed. The scheme aims to utilize steam autogenerated from biomass moisture as a reactant to react with the intermediate products of pyrolysis to produce additional hydrogen. In the present Article, the effect of reactor temperature, moisture content, heating rate, and sweeping gas flow rate on the process was investigated experimentally. Measurement of the atomic structures of chars produced from pyrolysis of wet/predried biomass was carried out with XRD. The results show that heating rate is a key role in the process. Under fast-heating conditions, drying and pyrolysis occurred in a relatively shorter time, which enhances the interactions between the autogenerated steam and the intermediate products and hence produces more hydrogen. Under slow-heating conditions, however, the autogenerated steam from moisture will be partially purged away from the reaction zone, leading to a weakened effect on the subseque...