Recent research progress in supercritical water gasification of biomass for hydrogen production

Abstract

H₂ is a clean energy carrier with great potential for applications in oil refineries, fertilizers, chemicals, and steel manufacturing. Steam methane reforming and coal gasification are the two dominant methods for producing H₂; however, both methods involve non-renewable fossil fuels and are emission-intensive. Alternatively, the supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of biomass for H₂ generation offers several advantages over these conventional methods. In this work, the key findings are presented and discussed as the outcomes of our recent work on biomass SCWG for H₂ production, including the influence of reaction conditions, catalyst types, and reactor configurations on process efficiency, total gaseous yield and compositions, and H₂ yield. In addition, our recent investigation on the corrosion of construction materials under the SCWG is described. Finally, key findings from recent life cycle assessment (LCA) and technoeconomic assessment (TEA) studies on this technology are provided in this review. In short, these results provide new insight for further SCWG technology development and its industrial scale-up for H₂ production.