Hydrogen production from raw bioethanol: Impact of fermentation and purification processes

Abstract

H2 production from biomass implies the transformation of bioethanol through glucose fermentation by Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and its further production by steam reforming. During the fermentation process, ethanol is the main reaction product (~15 vol%). However, a large spectrum of compounds is produced, such as 1-propanol, ethyl-acetate, acetic acid, succinic acid, 2-methyl-1-propanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol, and glycerol. Some of those compounds have been reported as undesirable for the steam reforming process, because they decrease both ethanol conversion and hydrogen yield [2]. Hence, a purification step is needed to remove these compounds, and also to achieve the necessary water to ethanol ratio (S/E) of 3 for the steam reforming process. In this research project, we study the process for H2 production which combines biological, separation, and catalytic processes. The biological process involves ethanol production by glucose fermentation, followed by a separation step, and its further transformation into H2 by the catalytic steam reforming. Glucose was selected as raw material, as it is the main molecule of biomass, representing between the 24 – 39 wt% [3]. Nota: Para consultar la carta de autorización de publicación de este documento por favor copie y pegue el siguiente enlace en su navegador de internet: http://intellectum.unisabana.edu.co/handle/10818/20310