Fetene E.M., Troiano M., Girardi M., Amorese C., Solimene R., Salatino P., 2026, Biohydrogen Production from Biomass by Integrated Pyrolysis and Steam Reforming: Process Studies and Design of an Experimental Prototype, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 125, 541-546.
This study deals with the design and construction of a lab-scale prototype plant integrating a fluidized bed pyrolytic converter of solid residual biomass with a fluidized bed steam reformer of pyrolytic bioliquids. The system consists of the following main components: a pyrolytic converter, a continuous biomass feeder with a feed rate of 5 kg/h, a three-stage condensation system and a steam reforming reactor equipped with a liquid feeding system. The pyrolytic converter was designed as an internally circulating fluidized bed with a gas residence time of 1 s and a reactor height of 0.6 m. The reforming reactor height is 0.8 m with a diameter of 0.078 m. The operation of the plant is flexible as it encompasses both in-line and off-line operation modes as well as different bio-oil feedstock types for the steam reforming stage. Furthermore, thermodynamics analysis indicated that the maximum hydrogen yields at 650oC for in-line and off-line steam reforming were 0.11 and 0.10 kg H2 per kg of biomass, respectively. Increasing the temperature above 650°C led to a decrease in H2 production.
