Hydrogen production from biomass from the waste of the banana plant through catalytic gasification in water in subcritical conditions

Hydrogen (H2) is considered worldwide as an energy vector. Current investigations point to the generation of H2 from biomass (agricultural waste), such as those of the banana plant, the most representative culture of Ecuador. This biomass requires energy conversion processes that can take advantage of the high water content efficiently, such as hydrothermal gasification under subcritical conditions. If this process is incorporated, it is possible to reduce the energy with which it is carried out and increase the selectivity and performance towards the production of H2. In this context, this research project aims to obtain H2 from the waste of the banana plant through catalytic gasification in water under subcritical conditions. To do this, a residue diet will be made in a selected banana farm from the provinces of El Oro and Los Ríos. The collected samples will be pretrated by acid hydrolysis to produce monosaccharides, which will constitute the raw material for the gasification process. A series of catalysts will be synthesized, which will be subjected to a screening (catalytic gasification experiments), comparing the activity, selectivity towards H2 and thermal stability, obtaining in the end the ideal catalyst. Next, the optimization of the operating conditions and the active metal concentration of the catalyst will be carried out. In the end, it will result in a catalyst that maximizes the production of H2 in an optimized initial biomass pressure, temperature and biomass concentration.

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