Client
Hyradix
Project Objectives
Analyze the most promising technologies to generate hydrogen renewably and that utilize reforming processes
Develop an engineering design of these processes for the future construction of these systems by Hyradix
Summary of Project and Results (Non-Confidential)
- Analyzed all of the current technologies that generate hydrogen renewably and that utilize reforming technologies
- Bio-Fuel Reforming
- Bio-fuels are fuels that are derived from the fruit of plants such corn, soy, etc. A popular bio-fuel is ethanol.
- Ethanol can be readily reformed into hydrogen using a standard auto-thermal reforming process
- The ethanol is converted into syngas using a catalytic auto-thermal reformer. This process involves the spray injection of ethanol and the addition of air and steam into the reactor. Partial oxidation and steam reforming reactions then occur throughout the catalyst bed to create syngas.
- The syngas then undergoes a variety of water-shift reactions to convert the carbon monoxide into hydrogen
- Pressure swing adsorbtion is used to separate the hydrogen from the nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and create a pure hydrogen stream
- A negative of bio-fuel reforming is that a lot of energy is used in the fermentation process to convert the corn starch into alcohol. This is done to create a high quality fuel for spark ignition engines, but is not needed for hydrogen production.
- An engineering design for a bio-fuel to hydrogen reforming process was completed
- Bio-Oil/Sugar Reforming
- A plant fruit such as corn is mechanically and chemically separated into oils and carbohydrates or starches. The starches are then further broken down into sugars or syrups for the food industry.
- These bio-oils and syrups can be readily converted into hydrogen using the auto-thermal reforming process described above. The bio-oil/syrup is injected as a spray into the auto-thermal reactor and then the droplets vaporize allowing the catalyzed reactions to occur.
- Reforming bio-oils and syrups into hydrogen is a more energy efficient process than reforming bio-fuels. This is because the energy intensive processes of fermentation and distillation are not present.
- Bio-oils and syrups are liquids and can be easily transported to distributed reforming centers for conversion into hydrogen. These liquids can also be stored on a vehicle for on-board reforming into syngas for engine performance improvement.
- An engineering design for a bio-oil/sugar to hydrogen reforming process was completed
- Bio-mass Reforming
- Bio-mass refers to the woody cellulose part of a plant. It is essentially everything in a plant except for the fruit.
- Bio-mass conversion into hydrogen is a much more energy efficient method than bio-fuel or bio-oil reforming. This is because the entire plant is used to create hydrogen. It is a more energy efficient process in terms of the overall conversion of solar energy into hydrogen energy. However, the reforming process is more complicated.
- Bio-mass reforming involves the following steps
- Mechanical shredding of the bio-mass into small particles
- Gasification of the biomass in a high temperature fluidized bed reactor. Steam is typically injected to increase the conversion rate.
- Removal of ash from the syngas stream
- Water shift reactors to convert the carbon monoxide into hydrogen
- Pressure swing adsorption to remove the nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and create a pure hydrogen stream
- A bio-mass reformer would be located in an agricultural area near the location of crop harvesting. This is because of the high cost of transporting bio-mass. The conversion of bio-mass into hydrogen would occur at that location, and the hydrogen would be liquefied or cryogenically compressed for transportation to urban areas.
- An engineering design for a bio-mass to hydrogen reforming process was completed
- Recycled Urban Bio-Mass into Fuel for Public Transportation
- The huge amount of paper products that are currently wasted or recycled in urban areas can be converted into hydrogen for vehicle fuel
- A bio-mass reformer can be located at the paper recycling center in an urban area
- Any household product that contains bio-mass can be converted into hydrogen
- The urban bio-mass reformer will include the shredding system, fluidized bed reactor, ash removal, water shift reactors, and pressure swing adsorbtion systems as described above
- The pure hydrogen stream will then be liquefied, compressed, or cryogenically compressed for storage, dispensing, and on-board storage on vehicles
- The public would probably be pleased that their garbage is converted into fuel for the public transportation fleet
- The system would save fuel costs and reduce emissions in urban areas
- An engineering design for an urban bio-mass to hydrogen reforming process was completed
- Bio-Mass Conversion to Pyrolysis Oil for Liquid Fuel Applications
- Bio-mass can be converted into a liquid using a process called flash pyrolysis
- The bio-mass in a fluidized bed reactor is rapidly heated to a certain temperature and then rapidly cooled to create a liquid called pyrolysis oil
- Pyrolysis oil can then be easily transported in trucks or pipelines as a high energy density liquid fuel
- Roughly 15% of the bio-mass energy is lost in the conversion to a liquid fuel
- Pyrolysis oil is quite viscous and there can be issues associated with pumping and injection
- The conversion of bio-mass into pyrolysis oil would occur in the agricultural areas near the sources of bio-mass. The conversion system would consist of a flash pyrolysis fluidized bed reactor and an ash removal system.
- The pyrolysis oil would then be trucked into urban areas for conversion into hydrogen. This conversion would consist of an auto-thermal reformer, water shift reactors, and pressure swing adsorbtion to generate a pure stream of hydrogen. Pyrolysis oil could be stored on-board a vehicle for on-board conversion to syngas and engine combustion improvement.
- An engineering design for a bio-mass to pyrolysis oil to hydrogen reforming process was completed
- Algae Oil to Hydrogen
- Algae convert solar energy into oils/lipids within the cell
- The oil yield of algae in a typical algae farm is about 100 times that of the best performing crop such as palm oil or soybean oil
- An algae farm can be located in any sunny area such as the desert, urban building rooftops, poor soil areas, etc.
- An algae farm consists of algae in water in clear plastic tubes. The water is kept at a certain temperature, and nutrients and carbon dioxide are added to the system.
- The algae is filtered from the water, and then mechanically pressed and/or chemically processed to remove the oil
- The algae oil would be transported to urban areas in trucks or pipelines
- It would then be converted into hydrogen in the urban areas using the auto-thermal reforming processes described above
- An engineering design for an algae oil to hydrogen reforming process was completed