Food Waste Gasification to Produce Hydrogen for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Applications: Comparison of Fixed‐Bed and Fluidized‐Bed Gasifiers Models

AbstractThe proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been expected to play a pivotal role in energy corridors within the next few years. The gasification of biomass sources is used to produce hydrogen. Many researchers have simulated the biomass gasification model through Aspen Plus to generate hydrogen. However, they 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 to produce hydrogen for PEMFC applications are developed in this work. Food waste is selected as biomass feedstock. The gasifiers have been modeled on Gibbs free minimization energy. Shift reactors along with the preferential oxidation reactor have been employed to limit the amount of CO in the syngas. The validated models were then employed 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 obtained after purification.