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Bio-Hydrogen from Oxy-Steam gasification and operation of PEM fuel cell

Subcategory (under Clean Energy): Hydrogen
Technology Readiness Level (TRL): TRL 6 - Full prototype at scale
Technology Outline (Process Description)

An inhouse developed and patented downdraft gasification system, designed for a range of bio-residue as fuel (woody biomass to agro-residue briquettes), is used to generate bio syngas at typical composition of H2~50%; CO~15%; CH4~5% and CO2~30% and yielding over 100 grams of Hydrogen per kilogram of bio-residue. This syngas is subjected to vacuum pressure swing adsorption separation, developed inhouse and patented, with a pressure ratio of ~ 15 and pure, ISO-14687 quality Hydrogen is generated. A proton exchange membrane fuel cell is operated with this bio-Hydrogen. Performance of the PEM fuel cell is benchmarked with bottled Hydrogen and on operating with bio-Hydrogen, no deviation is observed either in the polarization trace or the impedence spectroscopy characteristics. From a single cell to a stack of 100 W has been tested with a cumulative operational hour of close to 750. Surface characterization through SEM/XRD indicates the cell components (anode and membrane) remain unaffected even with 750 hours of operation, qualifying the generated Hydrogen for fuel cells in automotive applications

Salient Features/Advantages

  • The gasification system is broadly feed agnostic and can handle any feed with a rage of ash and moisture content. This enables targeting the entire spectrum of agro residue and is the key unique selling point of the technology. The vacuum pressure swing adsorption system is also designed to handle separation of a range of gaseous compounds with widely varying adsorption capacities, specifically targeting the generation of ISO-14687 quality Hydrogen

Key Outcomes

  • Bio-Hydrogen has been generated and quality characterized as per ISO-14687
  • Proton exchange membrane fuel cells of range of active cell area and capacities tested (from 2 W cell to 100 W stack)
  • Polarization and Impedence Spectroscopy analysis indicates invariant performance difference between bottled, UHP Hydrogen and generated Bio-Hydrogen Surface characterization does not indicate any morphological changes or presence of contaminants Generated Bio-Hydrogen is qualified for PEM fuel cell operation

IP Protection details

  • Patent filed (Title, national/International): Nil
  • Patents Granted: Nil
  • Copyrights obtained /progress on commercialisation /Pl. specify connect with industry: Nil

Contact details (for more information)

  • Nodal Person name: Prof S Dasappa
  • Email ID: dasappa@iisc.ac.in
  • Organisation name (Relevant link/web page): IISc
Supporting Photographs/Images

Organizations involved in the development (logo/name)

Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

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