Abstract
Biomass is a promising renewable resource for sustainable energy production, particularly for hydrogen generation. However, the inherent structural complexity of biomass, including high oxygen content, moisture, and resistant lignocellulosic components, limits its hydrogen yield during thermochemical and biochemical conversion processes. Biomass pretreatment plays a critical role in overcoming these limitations by altering the physical and chemical structure of raw feedstocks. Pretreatment methods such as thermal, chemical, physico-chemical, and biological treatments reduce crystallinity, remove lignin, decrease oxygen-rich compounds, and improve carbon accessibility. These changes enhance reaction efficiency, promote hydrogen-rich gas formation, and reduce the formation of undesirable by-products. As a result, pretreatment significantly increases hydrogen content and overall conversion efficiency during processes such as gasification, pyrolysis, and fermentation. Understanding and optimizing biomass pretreatment strategies is therefore essential for improving hydrogen production performance and advancing biomass-based hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy carrier.In this work, thermally pretreated agricultural biomass waste will be investigated in order to enhance the hydrogen yield of the generated gas during gasification.
