CONVERSION OF BIOMASS TO HYDROGEN USING PYROLYSIS

Abstract

Energy demand and consumption has increased tremendously with the increase in the population and industrialization. Even the developed countries are unable to cope up with the energy demands. Most of the energy required comes from fossil fuels. There are two major problems that every country is facing today. Firstly these fossil fuels are at the verge of getting extinct. It is expected that these may deplete by the year 2030. Another problem related to the environment. Production of energy from the fossil fuels leads to environmental pollution. Global warming, green house effect, depletion of ozone etc. are some of the problems that every nation is facing. Emissions from the combustion of fuels are the nuisance creating substances. There is need of some alternate fuel which will not only be a good substitute for the fossil fuels but also be environment friendly. Lot of renewable fuels is considered for this like wind, water, sunlight etc. usage of these alternatives is costly affair for the common man. So the fuel or the energy should be from a cheap source. The best suitable found was the biomass. It is cheap and also easily available. Biomass has been used from ancient times. But the process of obtaining energy is not efficient and also harmful to the environment. Biomass if converted to a better fuel using processes like pyrolysis or gasification can be a good substitute to the fossil fuels. Hydrogen could be a fuel for the future as it has high calorific value and is the cleanest fuel. The conventional methods of preparation of hydrogen are very costly. Converting biomass into hydrogen could help in the reduction of prices of the hydrogen to be used as fuel. Processes like pyrolysis and gasification are the important routes for this. These are all high temperature reactions whereby require a suitable reactor and other equipments. In this report a mechanical design of a reactor and furnace parts are reported which is essential for the production of hydrogen from biomass at high temperatures. Suitable insulation kinetics is also covered to get the best of heat exchange and transfer. This design will help in increasing the quality and the quantity of the products. The report also covers the preparation of the catalysts to be used in the process. This also provides the schematic description of the bench scale unit and also covers the pretreatment and pre-analysis of biomass. This report is made keeping in mind to obtain a appropriate reactor system which will help to give high yields and thereby reduce the overall cost of the hydrogen.