Hydrogen Production from Biogas in Membrane Reactor
- Publicada
- Servidor
- Preprints.org
- DOI
- 10.20944/preprints202606.0082.v1
The rapid depletion of fossil fuels, increased air pollution, global warming, and the ever-growing global energy demand have collectively heightened interest in renewable energy sources and high-performance alternative energy technologies. In this context, the use of fuel cells in portable, stationary, and vehicle applications has grown rapidly. Producing the hydrogen required for fuel cells from renewable sources is among the most actively researched topics. The high cost of electrolysis and their performance degradation during long-term operation make thermochemical hydrogen production from biogas an increasingly attractive option. This project carries out both experimental and mathematical modelling studies of a membrane reactor used to produce hydrogen from biogas. An experimental setup at the Institute on Membrane Technology (ITM) in Italy is used to validate the developed model and to conduct permeability and reaction tests. A multi-physics mathematical model is developed to examine the effects of operating temperature, reaction pressure, steam-to-carbon ratio, and flow direction on biogas conversion, hydrogen recovery, and hydrogen yield. Finally, the membrane reactor is integrated with a PEM fuel cell to form a combined heat and power (CHP) system, whose thermodynamic model is developed and assessed parametrically.