Low carbon hydrogen production from biomass gasification

"Hydrogen is a gaseous fuel identified as an ideal candidate to help support the demand in diverse energy and fuel sectors. Compared to other fuels, hydrogen offers excellent flexibility, meaning its energy and fuel applications provide a broader scope than other gas-fuel counterparts. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), natural gas conversion is the primary hydrogen source, covering about 75 per cent of the total demand for this fuel.

Natural gas is a fossil fuel, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are involved through its whole conversion chain from extraction to obtention of final products, including hydrogen. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that significantly contributes to climate change, with an estimated 158 million tonnes emitted in the UK in 2021 (Global Carbon Budget, 2022).

Considering the current and future global fuel demands, ongoing fossil fuel depletion, and associated GHG emissions during its conversion, there is an urgent need to find alternative sustainable and renewable sources to help cope with these demands. Biomass is a renewable and sustainable material that can be used as an alternative feedstock to obtain high-value fuels and chemicals via different conversion processes.

In this project, we will study the potential to obtain a high-hydrogen gas stream from the conversion of biomass resources via a process known as gasification. Gasification is a process taking place at high temperatures (i.e., 700 up to 1000 degrees C) and has been studied for many years. However, some optimisation is still required to ensure the process is flexible and efficient.

This optimisation will be studied via experimental approaches, incorporating the use of novel catalysts. Additionally, this project will explore how biomass gasification can contribute to negative emissions while also producing hydrogen, a valuable and versatile fuel. This will be achieved by exploring the incorporation of carbon capture technologies and assessing their benefits to achieve a net negative emissions process.

We anticipate the project will provide industry professionals with a research base to assess and implement gasification-to-hydrogen pathways. Synopsis and Research Objectives

Proposed Area of Research- Low-carbon hydrogen production from biomass gasification. The project is linked to the UK Supergen Bioenergy Hub (Task 2: Gasification for Negative Emissions) and the new ""Wolfson Centre for low carbon hydrogen"" at Aston University. This research project is mainly experimental and will focus on the development of novel hybrid catalysts for the optimisation of the biomass gasification process.

The overall goal will be to produce a low-carbon hydrogen stream that can be utilised in diverse applications like sustainable energy fuel. For this, catalysts working in a twofold approach to yield hydrogen and retain carbon dioxide will be developed and tested. Training will be scheduled to set up and manipulate a unique lab-scale pressurised gasifier.

The project will also assess the potential influence of other components or impurities in the gas stream such as tars. Finally, the focus would be on obtaining a high hydrogen yield from biomass gasification. The overall aims for this research project have been listed below: Extensive Literature review on topics including hybrid catalysts, gasification, hydrogen production, biomass, etc.

Identify and justify at least TWO potential novel hybrid catalysts to be synthesised and characterised for deployment in biomass gasification for process optimisation.

Conduct experimental work on catalytic biomass gasification to produce low-carbon hydrogen (either micro gasifier or model compounds).

To facilitate collaboration with Institutes to produce low-carbon hydrogen and contribute towards the UK Government's ambition of reaching NetZero. "