Hydrogen production from palm kernel shell: Kinetic modeling and simulation

The hydrogen production process from palm kernel shell (PKS) is modeled and simulated by a steady-state gasification system using Aspen PLUS®. The kinetic parameters of the gasification are determined by employing thermogravimetric analysis (TG/DTG) using two gasifying agents (CO₂ and steam) and applying three semi-empirical kinetic models to interpret the experimental results (linear model, grain model, and volumetric model). The process was subjected to different temperatures (750–950 °C) and different compositions of the steam/biomass ratio (S/B) (0–2.5). It is obtained that the linear model and the grain model have the best R² with the gasification results of the PKS with steam (0.966) and CO₂ (0.965), respectively. The steam reaction kinetic parameters obtained were E=125.79KJ/mol and A=26.23s⁻¹, and for the reaction with CO_2, they were E=99.87KJ/mol andA=6.3s⁻¹. The production yield of H₂ (109 g H₂/PKS kg) is reached at the highest temperature (950 °C) and the lowest S/B ratio (0). It is concluded that the model can predict with greater precision the hydrogen composition in the syngas, with a 0.135 mean square error, compared to other authors that present a 0.282 mean square error.