Should Biomass be Used for Power Generation or Hydrogen Production?

TLDR

Gasification has emerged as a promising biomass utilization route, producing gas that can serve as a fuel or be combusted in gas turbines for high‑efficiency power generation. This study performs a technoeconomic analysis to compare the performance and cost of biomass gasification systems integrated with either hydrogen production or power generation plants. The analysis models an indirectly heated fluidized‑bed gasifier coupled with a steam‑methane reformer, shift reactor, and pressure‑swing adsorption for hydrogen, and a gas‑steam combined cycle with a three‑pressure bottoming cycle for power, optimizing thermal interactions under typical operating conditions. Sensitivity analysis shows that the economic attractiveness of the two configurations depends on hydrogen and electricity prices, indicating that plant choice is cost‑constrained by energy market conditions.

Abstract

In the last several years, gasification has become an interesting option for biomass utilization because the produced gas can be used as a gaseous fuel in different applications or burned in a gas turbine for power generation with a high thermodynamic efficiency. In this paper, a technoeconomic analysis was carried out in order to evaluate performance and cost of biomass gasification systems integrated with two different types of plant, respectively, for hydrogen production and for power generation. An indirectly heated fluidized bed gasifier has been chosen for gas generation in both cases, and experimental data have been used to simulate the behavior of the gasifier. The hydrogen plant is characterized by the installation of a steam methane reformer and a shift reactor after the gas production and cleanup section; hydrogen is then purified in a pressure swing adsorption system. All these components have been modeled following typical operating conditions found in hydrogen plants. Simulations have been performed to optimize thermal interactions between the biomass gasification section and the gas processing. The power plant consists of a gas-steam combined cycle, with a three-pressure-levels bottoming cycle. A sensitivity analysis allowed to evaluate the economic convenience of the two plants as a function of the costs of the hydrogen and electrical energy.