278093 Carbon Negative Production of Hydrogen From Biomass Using an Alkaline Thermal Treatment: Kinetic and Mechanistic Studies for the Investigation of the Reaction Pathways

Wednesday, October 31, 2012: 3:55 PM
331 (Convention Center )
Camille Petit, Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering and Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, Thomas Ferguson, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY and Ah-Hyung Alissa Park, Earth and Environmental Engineering & Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY

Using biomass as a feedstock in place of fossil fuels for the production of energy and fuels can represent a sustainable alternative since this energy source is renewable, carbon neutral, and globally distributed. In this study, the one-step H2 production from biomass using an alkaline hydroxide (i.e., NaOH) under mild reaction conditions (i.e., 373 – 573 K, 1 bar) was investigated using a model biomass system. This method has great potential since it enables the production of a high-purity H2 stream with increased yield. Moreover, it is carbon negative since the carbon in the biomass is converted to a solid, environmentally benign carbonate. Owing to the suppressed CO formation in this process, the produced gas can be directly used in subsequent energy conversion systems such as PEM fuel cells without additional gas cleanup steps. The formation of gaseous products (i.e., H2, CH4, CO and CO2) during the reaction was monitored using gas chromatography, and the characterization of the derived solid products was carried out using 13C NMR and Raman spectroscopies, while investigating the effect of the reaction conditions (i.e., final reaction temperature, reactants ratio). The findings of this study provided important information regarding the mechanistic pathways of the alkaline thermal treatment of biomass for sustainable energy conversion.


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See more of this Session: Fundamentals of Biomass Utilization
See more of this Group/Topical: Environmental Division