HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

Hydrogen gas (H2) is important for chemical processing, refining and fertilizer production. There is growing interest in hydrogen as a carbon-free fuel for vehicles, stationary power generation and long-duration energy storage. Most hydrogen today is produced by steam reforming of natural gas (steam-methane reforming), which emits fossil-based CO2 as a byproduct. Renewable solar- or wind-based power can be used to electrolytically split water to create "green" hydrogen.

Another method of producing hydrogen is Gasification of solid or liquid feedstocks. When biomass-based materials such as scraps from forestry operations, agricultural residues or sorted municipal solid waste are gasified, the resulting synthesis gas can be run across a water-gas shift catalyst to maximize production of hydrogen. The net result is energy-positive production of hydrogen from renewable resources.

At the Advanced Energy Systems Research Facility, we focus on hydrogen production via gasification in the Pressurized Entrained-Flow Reactor or Pressurized Fluidized Bed Reactor. We also study Sorption-Enhanced Gasification—an ingenious, process-intensified technology for hydrogen production—in our Dual Fluidized Bed Reactor System.