Hydrogen Production for Pemfc Applications Through Food Waste Gasification: A Comparative Study between Fixed and Fluidized Bed Gasifier Models

Energy derived from biomass is a viable alternative to non-renewable energy resources due to its abundance and economical advantage. The gasification of such biomass sources is used to produce hydrogen. Many researchers have simulated the biomass gasification model through Aspen Plus to produce hydrogen. However, the previous works have not been targeting the purification of hydrogen gas which is the product of biomass gasification. Thus, the Aspen gasification models for both the fixed and fluidized bed gasifiers integrated with the hydrogen purification system are developed in this work. The food waste is selected as biomass feedstock. This study is done to estimate the performance of both the fixed bed food waste gasifier and fluidized bed food waste gasifier in terms of syngas produced and hydrogen (mol.%) obtained after purification. As per simulation results, hydrogen produced from fluidized bed gasifier equals 7.22% moles in comparison to 5.17% moles in the case of fixed bed gasifier.