This End of Activity Report discusses how the development of a multi-step, solar-driven biomass reforming system is capable of extracting hydrogen and/or hydrogen carriers from waste biomass.
Report extract
The activity systematically developed a multi-step, solar-driven biomass reforming system capable of extracting hydrogen and/or hydrogen carriers from waste biomass, progressing the technology from TRL3 to TRL4. This document describes the outcomes from the research conducted over the duration of the Activity.
The established biomass reforming system comprises three primary components, which were developed independently and integrated in the final year of the Activity: (i) a waste biomass concentrator (WBC), which is powered by a photovoltaic module to concentrate the biomass feed stream and simultaneously produce clean water suited for use in the downstream flow electrolysis cell; (ii) a solar-thermal biomass pre-treatment reactor (BPR), which contained a solar concentrator and a pressurized thermochemical reactor tube, to precondition the biomass to be more appropriate for hydrogen generation; and (iii) a flow electrolysis cell (FEC), which uses a photovoltaic module to convert the BPR output in the anodic compartment along with clean water (from the WBC) in the cathodic compartment to produce hydrogen and value-added organic product.