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| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/F027389/1 |
| Title: |
Hydrogen generation from biomass derived glycerol using sorption enhanced reaction processes |
| Principal Investigator: |
Dr V Dupont |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-investigator: |
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| Project Partner: |
| D1 Oils plc |
Johnson Matthey plc |
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| Department: |
Energy Resources Research Unit |
| Organisation: |
University of Leeds |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research |
| Starts: |
01 October 2007 |
Ends: |
31 March 2009 |
Value (£): |
270,319
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Biomass, Bioenergy and Biofuels |
Heat and Mass Transfer |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
| Panel Date | Panel Name | Outcome |
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01 Aug 2007
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Energy Feasibility Studies
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Announced
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Summary |
This research aims towards developing a technology that converts biomass derived glycerol to hydrogen with simultaneous carbon capture, using the concept of sorption enhanced steam reforming. EU currently produces approximately 6.8 billion litres of biodiesel per annum, which yields ~0.68 million tons of crude glycerol. Although a small portion of the crude glycerol is purified for pharmaceutical and food applications, the majority of it is taken as waste. With an increase in the biodiesel production in the future, the amount of waste glycerol will certainly present a big challenge. None of the published literature on hydrogen production processes from glycerol reports a combination of high glycerol conversion and high H2 selectivity, which could reduce the requirements for the purification stage.
The novelty of the proposed approach is the use of in-situ removal of CO2 and ex-situ regeneration of CO2 adsorbent, thus enabling a continuous operation of the reactor, direct delivery of hydrogen at the reactor pressure, the use of relatively low capacity adsorbent, introduction of more physical heat to the reactor, and intensification of heat transfer within the reactor.
The technological challenges include
(i) achieve the controlled flow of adsorbent particles so that they can match with the local demand of CO2 adsorption, (ii) overcoming possible interactions between adsorbent and catalyst particles, and (iii) optimise heat transfer to and within the reactor for maximum heat integration. Other challenges include assessing the potential for tar and carbon formation, and determine the conditions which best avoid their occurrence, determining the role and fate of impurities in the crude glycerol, provide the materials life cycle analysis of the process, and take a green engineering approach to the process while achieving a high purity H2 product.
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| Final Report Summary |
This research developed a technology that converts biomass derived glycerol to hydrogen with simultaneous carbon capture, using the concept of sorption enhanced steam reforming. EU currently produced approximately 16M tons of 'B27' biodiesel in 2008, which yielded ~0.43 million tons of crude glycerol. Although a small portion of the crude glycerol is purified for pharmaceutical and food applications, the majority of it is taken as waste. With a continuing increase in biodiesel production in the future, the amount of waste glycerol will certainly present a big challenge. None of the published literature on hydrogen production processes from glycerol reports a combination of high glycerol conversion and high H2 selectivity, which could reduce the requirements for the purification stage.
The novelty of the research was the use of in-situ removal of CO2 and ex-situ regeneration of CO2 adsorbent, thus enabling a continuous operation of a reactor in an industrial setting, with direct delivery of hydrogen at the reactor pressure, introduction of more physical heat to the reactor, and intensification of heat transfer within the reactor.
The technological challenges included
(i) achieving the controlled flow of adsorbent particles so that they can match with the local demand of CO2 adsorption, (ii) overcoming possible interactions between adsorbent and catalyst particles, and (iii) optimise heat transfer to and within the reactor for maximum heat integration. Other challenges include assessing the potential for tar and carbon formation, and determine the conditions which best avoid their occurrence, determining the role and fate of impurities in the crude glycerol, provide the materials life cycle analysis of the process, and take a green engineering approach to the process while achieving a high purity H2 product.
This project of 18 months duration demonstrated the feasibility of sorption enhanced steam reforming of glycerol in two reactors of differing scales, using two types of sorbent with low and high CO2 capacities respectively (hydrotalcite and dolomite). Pure and crude glycerol were demonstrated to successfully reform to high purity hydrogen (up to 96%) during the experiments, and the results were backed by appropriate numerical modelling work. The results on pure glycerol were summarised in four papers, which by the end of the project have been accepted (three already published) in international journals of high impact factor (Energy & Fuels, Bioresource Technology and International Journal of Hydrogen Energy). At least two more papers reporting results on crude glycerol are near completion and will be submitted to similarly high quality publications. A number of poster and oral presentations were made at national and international conferences (NEC at Birmingham on 25th March 2009, 236th ACS national meeting in Philadelphia in August 2008, 9th UK Particle Technology Forum in Edinburgh, 25-26th Jun 2008, Process Intensification 2008 (IWPI 2008) in Tokyo, Oct 15-18 2008), and shortly at the World Congress of Chemical Engineering in Montreal, August 2009. The project attracted attention from the national press, with a feature article in The Guardian on Thursday 4th December, and a visit by the science editor of The Observer (no article yet). Magazines such as The Engineer also mentioned the project on two occasions. This project also contributed to the success of another grant application (SUPERGEN sustainable hydrogen delivery) of which the PI is the Leeds University partner who can thus continue research on a closely related subject, with continuing support from industrial sponsor Johnson Matthey. Six students (MEng, MSc, scholar visitors from China) beneficiated from this project (and vice-versa) through research projects. Their destinations following their projects include jobs with industrial employers in the energy and environment sector and PhD studies in The University of Leeds.
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.leeds.ac.uk |
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