Utilization of renewable feedstock for hydrogen production via chemical-looping

At Graz University of Technology, a fixed bed chemical looping system was invented for decentralized hydrogen production, purification and storage. The underlying concept of this system is called the Reformer Steam Iron Cycle (RESC). This process has been patented by the research group. Renewable biofuels can be converted into synthesis gas reducing the solid oxygen carrier based on iron oxide. Subsequently steam oxidizes the iron at high temperatures by releasing pure hydrogen. The fixed-bed operation leads to a pre-pressurized hydrogen stream as product gas. Technically pure hydrogen is obtained by the separation of the carbonaceous feed from the product stream and thus no additional gas purification is required.