ABSTRACT Direct Hydrogen Production from Biomass Gasifier Using H2 Selective Membrane Biomass represents an abundant and renewable feedstock that can be thermally processed using gasification technologies for producing hydrogen and/or power. The produced hydrogen can be sent directly to a fuel cell for highly efficient and environmentally clean power generation. Biomass offers a secure and self-sufficient way of electricity generation via gasification due to its renewable nature. The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) have developed an innovative concept for direct extraction of hydrogen from biomass by incorporating a hydrogen-selective membrane close coupled to a gasifier. The membrane gasifier system can potentially reduce the hydrogen product cost by more than 40% over the conventional biomass gasification technology. The project team selected candidate membrane materials and tested them under biomass synthesis gas conditions generated from a pilot-scale downdraft gasifier. The team thus demonstrated the feasibility of using a hydrogen-selective membrane for direct hydrogen production from a biomass gasification process. The biomass gasifier was operated with air at near ambient pressure. The capacity of the downdraft gasifier was about 25 kg/h and generated about 73kWth and 25kWe. A slip stream of product gas was directed to a permeation unit. The permeation unit consisted of three main reactor vessels: a gas cleaning (Carbon Bed) vessel, a water-gas shift (WGS) reactor and the membrane module. The Carbon Bed vessel removed (cleaned) contaminants such as particulates, sulfides, ammonia etc. from the producer gas. In the water-gas shift reactor, carbon monoxide and water/steam reacted to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. As a result of the shift reaction, the hydrogen content increased and the carbon monoxide concentration became negligible. A booster compressor was used for the slip stream to increase the partial pressure of hydrogen in the feed side of the membrane to simulate the realistic hydrogen feed pressure from a commercial gasifier. By increasing the differential pressure, the hydrogen flux increased also. The membrane module contained a hydrogen selective membrane that served as a barrier through which only hydrogen could pass. Palladium-Copper membranes were identified as preferred candidate materials for hydrogen separation application under the conditions of the biomass gasification, temperatures above 700oC and pressures above 20 atm. As a result, pure hydrogen was on one side of the membrane and carbon dioxide with impurities was on the other side. An inert gas was used to sweep the hydrogen permeate. The membrane showed no sign of deterioration over the 20 hours of integrated operation with the downdraft biomass gasifier. Results show the proof of feasibility for separating hydrogen from producer gas (obtained by biomass gasification) using a membrane. This work was funded by a Renewable Development Fund grant from Northern States Power through Xcel Energy.