Is it economical and beneficial to produce hydrogen from excess corn kernels?

• Published in: Fuel (Guildford) 2020-07, Vol.272, p.117747, Article 117747
• Main Authors: Irmak, Sibel, Nayman Tiryaki, Ozge
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural production; APR; Biomass; Conversion; Corn; Corn kernel; Crop yield; Environmental aspects; Fuel cells; Fuel technology; Gas production; Gasification; Glucose; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; Hydrothermal gasification; Industrial applications; Kernels; Methane; Natural gas; Oil and gas production; Reforming; Sustainability
• ISSN: 0016-2361; 1873-7153
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2020.117747

•Advantage of hydrogen production from hydrothermal gasification of corn kernels was studied.•Hydrogen production yield of corn kernels was compared with biomass and pure glucose.•The yields were in the following descending order: glucose > corn kernel ≫ biomass.•The process was evaluated in terms of feed price and environmental aspects compared to methane.•Use of corn in the process is an advantage but it cannot be comparable with natural gas reforming. The demand for hydrogen gas is expected to increase in the near future not only for use in in fuel cells but also for a wide range of industrial uses. Recently, conversion of renewable sources to hydrogen by hydrothermal processes has gained more attention because of environmentalandeconomicbenefits. As one of alternative feedstocks, corn kernel from excess corn production could be a promising material for hydrogen production by hydrothermal gasification process. In this study, hydrogen production yield of corn kernels was compared with biomass and pure glucose feeds. Advantage and disadvantage of using corn kernels in the process was discussed in in terms of feed price and environmental aspects. Hydrogen production yield of corn kernels was found to be higher than biomass and slightly less than pure glucose feed. Considering processing conditions (e.g. temperature), sustainability, environmentally friendly nature, etc. conversion of excess corn kernels to hydrogen by hydrothermal processes is an alternative promising way for hydrogen gas production however, it is still not comparable with methane feed used in natural gas reforming. Cost of the corn kernel was roughly 1.71 times higher than methane to produce the same amount of hydrogen.