Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
Published in: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 2/2021

10-08-2020 | Original Article

Technical feasibility of reforming anaerobic digestion and landfill biogas streams into bio-hydrogen

Authors: Isam Janajreh, Idowu Adeyemi, Sherien Elagroudy

Published in: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery | Issue 2/2021

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Hydrogen can be produced through different pathways, i.e., natural gas reforming, gasification of coal, and electrolysis of water. A more sustainable pathway is through bio-H2, which can be produced by bio-photolysis of water and photo-fermentation and dark fermentation of organic matters (OM). However, these routes are still limited by their specific energy requirement, process slowness, and microorganism sensitivity. These limitations can be mitigated by producing bio-H2 via steam reforming of biogas sources such as landfill or anaerobic digester. In this study, the influence of the methane concentration in the biogas stream on reforming metrics was investigated. Two levels of modeling were pursued here: equilibrium and high fidelity numerical simulations. The former considers several reaction constants, elemental mass conservation, and energy balance. The latter model is based on the reactive Navier-Stokes of non-isothermal and multiple species flow in a cylindrical reactor. Process metrics such as species concentrations and conversion percentages as well as thermal process efficiencies were delineated and evaluated. Results showed that methane concentration has a pronounced influence on the resulting hydrogen concentration and the overall reforming efficiency. The anaerobic CH4 source resulted in a mole fraction of near 0.3 for H2 and a reforming efficiency of 36%. These values are much lower than those evaluated for natural gas (mole fraction of 0.5 for H2 and reforming efficiency of 75%). Although this work illustrates the technical feasibility of biogas reforming, it highlights the low attained process efficiency that can be improved to achieve sustainable bio-H2 production.
previous article Phosphorus recovery by struvite from anaerobic co-digestion effluents during residual biomass treatment
next article Biochar production from sewage sludge and microalgae mixtures: properties, sustainability and possible role in circular economy

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Literature
1.
Ntaikou I, Antonopoulou G, Lyberatos G (2010) Biohydrogen production from biomass wastes via dark fermentation: a review. Waste Biomass Valoriz 1:21–39
2.
Ghimire A, Frunzo L, Pirozzi F, Trably E, Escudie R, Lens PN, Esposito G (2015) A review on dark fermentative biohydrogen production from organic biomass: process parameters and use of by-products. Appl Energy 144:73–95
3.
Karuppiah T, Azariah VE (2019) Biomass pretreatment for enhancement of biogas production. In Anaerobic Digestion. IntechOpen
4.
Pontoni L, Panico A, Salzano E, Frunzo L, Iodice P, Pirozzi F (2015) Innovative parameters to control the efficiency of anaerobic digestion process. Chem Eng Trans 43:2089–2094
5.
6.
Moller HB, Sommer SG, Ahring BK (2004) Methane productivity of manure, straw and solid fractions of manure. Biomass Bioenergy 26:485–496
7.
Amon T, Kryvoruchko V, Amon B, Moitzi G, Lyson D, Hackl E, Jeremic D, Zollitsch W, Pötsch E, Mayer K, Plank J (2002) ethanbildungsvermo¨gen von Mais – Einfluss der Sorte, der Konservierung und des Erntezeitpunktes. Final Report 47. October 2002. On behalf of Pioneer Saaten Ges.m.b.H. Parndorf (Austria). http://​www.​nas.​boku.​ac.​at/​4536.​html
8.
Amon T, Kryvoruchko V, Amon B, Moitzi G, Lyson D, Hackl E, Jeremic D, Zollitsch W, Pötsch E (2003) Optimierung der Biogaserzeugung aus den Energiepflanzen Mais und Kleegras. Final Report 77. July 2003. Bundesministeriums fu¨ r Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt- und Wasserwirtschaft (Ed.). Research Project No. 1249. http://​www.​nas.​boku.​ac.​at/​4536.​html
9.
Amon T, Kryvoruchko V, Amon B, Buga S, Amin A, Zollitsch W, Mayer K, Pötsch E (2004) Biogaserträge aus landwirtschaftlichen Gärgütern. In: BAL Gumpenstein, BMLFUW (Ed.) BAL-Bericht über das 10. Alpenländische Expertenforum zum Thema Biogasproduktion— Alternative Biomassenutzung und Energiegewinnung in der Landwirtschaft am 18–19 März 2004. ISBN 3-901980-72-5, pp. 21– 26. http://​www.​nas.​boku.​ac.​at/​4536.​html
10.
Balsari P, Bonfanti P, Bozza E, Sangiorgi F, 14–20 August 1983. Evaluation of the influence of animal feeding on the performances of a biogas installation (mathematical model). In: Third International Symposium on Anaerobic Digestion. Boston, MA, USA, A 20, p. 7.
11.
Jönsson O, Polman E, Jensen JK, Eklund R, Schyl H, Ivarsson S (2013) Sustainable gas enters the European gas distribution system. Danish Gas Technology Center
12.
Rasi S, Veijanen A, Rintala J (2007) Trace compounds of biogas from different biogas production plants. Energy 32:1375–1380
13.
Shin H-C, Park J-W, Park K, Song H-C (2002) Removal characteristics of trace compounds of landfill gas by activated carbon adsorption. Environ Pollut 119:227–236
14.
Allen MR, Braithwaite A, Hills CC (1997) Trace organic compounds in landfill gas at seven UK waste disposal sites. Environ Sci Technol 31:1054–1061
15.
Eklund B, Anderson EP, Walker BL, Burrows DB (1998) Characterization of landfill gas composition at the fresh kills municipal solid-waste landfill. Environ Sci Technol 32:2233–2237
16.
Jaffrin A, Bentounes N, Joan AM, Makhlouf S (2003) Landfill biogas for heating greenhouses and providing carbon dioxide supplement for plant growth. Biosyst Eng 86:113–123
17.
Spiegel RJ, Preston JL (2003) Technical assessment of fuel cell operation on anaerobic digester gas at the Yonkers, NY, wastewater treatment plant. Waste Manag 23:709–717
18.
Stern SA, Krishnakumar B, Charati SG, Amato WS, Frieman AA, Fuess DJ (1998) Performance of a bench-scale membrane pilot plant for the upgrading of biogas in a wastewater treatment plant. J Membr Sci 151:63–74
19.
Spiegel RJ, Preston JL (2000) Test results for fuel cell operation on anaerobic digester gas. J Power Sources 86:283–288
20.
21.
Elagroudy S, El-Gohary F (2013) Microwave pre-treatment of mixed sludge for anaerobic digestion enhancement. Int J Therm Environ Eng 5:105–111
22.
Tanikkul P, Pisutpaisal N (2014) Biohydrogen production under thermophilic condition from ozonated palm oil mill effluent. Energy Procedia 61:1234–1238
23.
Budiman PM, Wu TY (2016) Ultrasonication pre-treatment of combined effluents from palm oil, pulp and paper mills for improving photofermentative biohydrogen production. Energy Convers Manag 119:142–150
24.
Wong LP, Isa MH, Bashir MJK (2018) Disintegration of palm oil mill effluent organic solids by ultrasonication: optimisation by response surface methodology. Process Saf Environ Prot 114:123–132
25.
Ghaebi H, Yari M, Gargari SG, Rostamzadeh H (2019) Thermodynamic modeling and optimization of a combined biogas steam reforming system and organic Rankine cycle for coproduction of power and hydrogen. Renew Energy 130:87–102
26.
Zhao X, Babu Joseph JK, Ozcan S (2020) Biogas reforming to syngas: a review. iScience, 23(5).
27.
Braga LB, Silveira JL, Da Silva ME, Tuna CE, Machin EB, Pedroso DT (2013) Hydrogen production by biogas steam reforming: a technical, economic and ecological analysis. Renew Sust Energ Rev 28:166–173
28.
Chiodo V, Maisano S, Zafarana G, Urbani F (2017) Effect of pollutants on biogas steam reforming. Int J Hydrog Energy 42(3):1622–1628
29.
Avraam DG, Halkides TI, Liguras DK, Bereketidou OA, Goula MA (2010) An experimental and theoretical approach for the biogas steam reforming reaction. Int J Hydrog Energy 35(18):9818–9827
30.
Ahmed S, Lee SH, Ferrandon MS (2015) Catalytic steam reforming of biogas–effects of feed composition and operating conditions. Int J Hydrog Energy 40(2):1005–1015
31.
Kolbitsch P, Pfeifer C, Hofbauer H (2008) Catalytic steam reforming of model biogas. Fuel 87(6):701–706
32.
Effendi A, Hellgardt K, Zhang ZG, Yoshida T (2005) Optimising H2 production from model biogas via combined steam reforming and CO shift reactions. Fuel 84(7-8):869–874
33.
Ashrafi M, Pröll T, Pfeifer C, Hofbauer H (2008) Experimental study of model biogas catalytic steam reforming: 1. Thermodynamic optimization. Energy Fuel 22(6):4182–4189
34.
Ashrafi M, Pfeifer C, Pröll T, Hofbauer H (2008) Experimental study of model biogas catalytic steam reforming: 2. Impact of sulfur on the deactivation and regeneration of Ni-based catalysts. Energy Fuel 22(6):4190–4195
35.
Izquierdo U, Barrio VL, Lago N, Requies J, Cambra JF, Güemez MB, Arias PL (2012) Biogas steam and oxidative reforming processes for synthesis gas and hydrogen production in conventional and microreactor reaction systems. Int J Hydrog Energy 37(18):13829–13842
36.
Alves HJ, Junior CB, Niklevicz RR, Frigo EP, Frigo MS, Coimbra-Araújo CH (2013) Overview of hydrogen production technologies from biogas and the applications in fuel cells. Int J Hydrog Energy 38(13):5215–5225
37.
Santarelli M, Quesito F, Novaresio V, Guerra C, Lanzini A, Beretta D (2013) Direct reforming of biogas on Ni-based SOFC anodes: modelling of heterogeneous reactions and validation with experiments. J Power Sources 242:405–414
38.
Corigliano O, Fragiacomo P (2017) Numerical modeling of an indirect internal CO2 reforming solid oxide fuel cell energy system fed by biogas. Fuel 196:352–361
39.
Kim S, Bae J (2014) Numerical analysis of a 20-kWe biogas steam reformer in PEMFC applications. Int J Hydrog Energy 39(34):19485–19493
40.
Chiodo V, Galvagno A, Lanzini A, Papurello D, Urbani F, Santarelli M, Freni S (2015) Biogas reforming process investigation for SOFC application. Energy Convers Manag 98:252–258
41.
Mozdzierz M, Brus G, Sciazko A, Komatsu Y, Kimijima S, Szmyd JS (2016) Towards a thermal optimization of a methane/steam reforming reactor. Flow Turbul Combust 97(1):171–189
42.
Xuan J, Leung MK, Leung DY, Ni M (2009) Integrating chemical kinetics with CFD modeling for autothermal reforming of biogas. Int J Hydrog Energy 34(22):9076–9086
43.
Hamedi MR, Tsolakis A, Lau CS (2014) Biogas upgrading for on-board hydrogen production: reforming process CFD modelling. Int J Hydrog Energy 39(24):12532–12540
44.
Cipitì F, Barbera O, Briguglio N, Giacoppo G, Italiano C, Vita A (2016) Design of a biogas steam reforming reactor: a modelling and experimental approach. Int J Hydrog Energy 41(27):11577–11583
45.
Camacho YM, Bensaid S, Lorentzou S, Vlachos N, Pantoleontos G, Konstandopoulos A, Luneau M, Meunier FC, Guilhaume N, Schuurman Y, Werzner E (2017) Development of a robust and efficient biogas processor for hydrogen production. Part 1: modelling and simulation. Int J Hydrog Energy 42(36):22841–22855
46.
Palma V, Ricca A, Meloni E, Martino M, Miccio M, Ciambelli P (2016) Experimental and numerical investigations on structured catalysts for methane steam reforming intensification. J Clean Prod 111:217–230
47.
Minchener AJ (2005) Coal gasification for advanced power generation. Fuel 84(17):2222–2235
48.
Prins MJ, Ptasinski KJ, Janssen FJJG (2007) From coal to biomass gasification: comparison of thermodynamic efficiency. Energy 32(7):1248–1259
49.
de Souza-Santos ML (2004) Solid fuels combustion and gasification: modeling, simulation, and equipment operation. Mechanical engineering. Vol. 180., New York: Marcel Dekker. 439
50.
Patel KS, Sunol AK (2007) Modeling and simulation of methane steam reforming in a thermally coupled membrane reactor. Int J Hydrog Energy 32(13):2344–2358
51.
Chein R, Chen YC, Chung JN (2013) Numerical study of methanol–steam reforming and methanol–air catalytic combustion in annulus reactors for hydrogen production. Appl Energy 102:1022–1034
52.
Murmura MA, Cerbelli S, Annesini MC (2017) An equilibrium theory for catalytic steam reforming in membrane reactors. Chem Eng Sci 160:291–303
53.
Murmura MA, Cerbelli S, Annesini MC (2017) Transport-reaction-permeation regimes in catalytic membrane reactors for hydrogen production. The steam reforming of methane as a case study. Chem Eng Sci 162:88–103
54.
Schädel BT, Duisberg M, Deutschmann O (2009) Steam reforming of methane, ethane, propane, butane, and natural gas over a rhodium-based catalyst. Catal Today 142(1-2):42–51
55.
Khzouz M, Gkanas EI (2018) Experimental and numerical study of low temperature methane steam reforming for hydrogen production. Catalysts 8(1):5
56.
Bion N, Epron F, Duprez D (2010) Bioethanol reforming for H2 production. A comparison with hydrocarbon reforming. Catalysis 22:1–55
57.
Angeli SD, Pilitsis FG, Lemonidou AA (2015) Methane steam reforming at low temperature: effect of light alkanes’ presence on coke formation. Catal Today 242:119–128
58.
Shagdar E, Lougou BG, Shuai Y, Ganbold E, Chinonso OP, Tan H (2020) Process analysis of solar steam reforming of methane for producing low-carbon hydrogen. RSC Adv 10(21):12582–12597
59.
Padro CEG and Putsche V Survey of the economics of hydrogen technologies. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. September 1999
60.
61.
Metadata
Title
Technical feasibility of reforming anaerobic digestion and landfill biogas streams into bio-hydrogen
Authors
Isam Janajreh
Idowu Adeyemi
Sherien Elagroudy
Publication date
10-08-2020
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery / Issue 2/2021
Print ISSN: 2190-6815
Electronic ISSN: 2190-6823
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00911-x

Other articles of this Issue 2/2021

Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 2/2021 Go to the issue

Original Article

Thermochemical conversion of apple seeds before and after supercritical CO2 extraction: an assessment through evolved gas analysis

Review Article

Development of biomass-derived biochar for agronomic and environmental remediation applications

Original Article

Thermal conversion of flax shives through slow pyrolysis process: in-depth biochar characterization and future potential use

Original Article

The role of emulsification as pre-treatment on the anaerobic digestion of oleic acid: process performance, modeling, and sludge metabolic properties

Original Article

The integral use of aromatic plants: prefeasibility comparison of stand-alone and biorefinery processes using thyme (Thymus vulgaris) as base case

Review Article

Biomass valorization and phytoremediation as integrated Technology for Municipal Solid Waste Management for developing economic context