Study of the carbonation–calcination reaction applied to the hydrogen production from syngas

In the last years the interest in hydrogen as an energy carrier is significantly increased both for vehicle fuelling and stationary energy production by fuel cells. The benefits of a hydrogen energy policy are the reduction of the greenhouse effect and the centralization of the emission sources. Moreover, an improvement to the environmental benefits can be achieved if hydrogen is produced from renewable sources, as biomass. The present study relates the development of an innovative system for hydrogen production and CO2 capture starting from syngas. The plant is based on the carbonation and calcination reactions for CO2 absorption and desorption, respectively. In the carbonation reactor also steam methane reforming and CO-shift take place to enhance the hydrogen production. By means of a thermodynamic analysis, the system has been optimized in terms of the amount of the hydrogen produced and its purity. Different syngas compositions have been tested. The results confirm the effectiveness of the system proposed, which provides 99% H2 purity and zero CO2 emission in the case of the syngas derived from Battelle Columbus Laboratories gasifier.