Energy Analysis of Hydrogen Production from Biomass in Thailand

Abstract

Hydrogen can be considered as a clean energy which can be produced from various domestic renewable resources. Biomass as an alternative energy can be used instead of fossil fuels, which are energy source that is limited and may become depleted. Biomass is the best source for hydrogen production as alternative energy in Thailand. Therefore, hydrogen production from biomass gasification is considered in this study. The purpose is to evaluate the energy performance of hydrogen production from biomass; rice husk and rice straw, in terms of energy and exergy analyses. The gasification process is simulated using the ASPEN HYSYS program. The results revealed that rice husk and rice straw can be used as raw materials for hydrogen production by gasification process. System’s energy efficiencies are 33.45% and 35.56% for rice husk and rice straw feedstock, respectively. In addition, system’s exergy efficiencies are 29.10% and 31.12% for rice husk and rice straw feedstock, respectively. Comparing these results with other hydrogen production methods such as steam methane reforming process and coal gasification process, energy and exergy efficiencies of the biomass-based hydrogen production process are relatively low. In order to increase energy and exergy efficiencies of the biomass gasification process, energy recovery technique should be applied.