Hydrogen generation using supercritical water

Abstract

The possibility of hydrogen generation from the organic materials using supercritical water (SCW) was demonstrated in this paper. As for the hydrogen generation rate, i.e. the rate of gasification and the concentration of hydrogen in the decomposed gases the number of OH radical is one of the most important factors, where the decrease of the concentration of CO2 and increase of methane can be observed in case of using monohydric alcohol. From the practical view point, glycerin is one of the most suitable candidates for the hydrogen generation using the SCW. Glycerin can be obtained as by-product generated in the course of the bio-diesel (BDF) production using ester reaction of vegetable oils. If the utilization of BDF is spread, the rest material of glycerin can be used for the hydrogen generation using SCW and cost merit can also be expected