Harnessing the Power of Waste in a Poly-Output System Transforming Biomass Feedstocks into Sustainable Bio-H2, O2, Electricity, and Heating

The use of biomass as a renewable source for biohydrogen production offers both environmental and economic advantages. A novel multi-generation system has been developed and modeled to generate biohydrogen, along with other energy outputs such as hydrogen storage, power, hot water, and hot air. This integrated system incorporates a gas turbine cycle, a proton exchange membrane, and a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle. After validating the model, the performance of the systems fueled by olive refuse and wheat straw biomasses has been evaluated. The system using wheat straw biomass produces more biohydrogen (39g/min compared to 33g/min), oxygen (307g/min compared to 260g/min), and power (316kW compared to 268kW). Conversely, the system using olive refuse biomass emits lower carbon dioxide (8.38g/kWmin compared to 8.94g/kWmin) and provides higher efficiency (76.8% compared to 65.9%). These findings demonstrate the versatility of the novel multi-generation system in harnessing different biomass types for biohydrogen production and other energy applications, while balancing environmental and economic considerations.