Hydrogen production from co-gasification of coal and biomass in supercritical water by continuous flow thermal-catalytic reaction system

Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier. Converting abundant coal sources and green biomass energy into hydrogen effectively and without any pollution promotes environmental protection. The co-gasification performance of coal and a model compound of biomass, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) in supercritical water (SCW), were investigated experimentally. The influences of temperature, pressure and concentration on hydrogen production from co-gasification of coal and CMC in SCW under the given conditions (20-25 MPa, 650°C, 15-30 s) are discussed in detail. The experimental results show that H₂, CO₂ and CH₄ are the main gas products, and the molar fraction of hydrogen reaches in excess of 60%. The higher pressure and higher CMC content facilitate hydrogen production; production is decreased remarkably given a longer residence time.