Residual Minimization Approach for Kinetics Parameter Estimation for Hydrogen Production from Gasification of Palm Kernel Shell

Hydrogen economy has become more attractive with the energy crises and environmental issues associated with fossil fuel utilization more so with the discovery that hydrogen can be produced from renewable biomass. This provides good prospects to Malaysia that generates abundant palm wastes. Nevertheless, there is still limited knowledge on kinetics parameters for hydrogen production from palm kernel shell gasification. In this work, a residual minimization approach has been developed to estimate the kinetics parameters for steam gasification of palm kernel shell into hydrogen. For this purpose, a mathematical model has been developed to describe the kinetics of steam gasification of palm kernel shell with in-situ CO2 capture while considering tar formation. In addition, the effect of gasification temperature, steam/biomass ratio, and sorbent/biomass ratio on the process efficiency is profiled using the calculated kinetics parameters. The parametric study indicates that the three variables promote hydrogen production at different degree of influence.