ARTICLE IN PRESS

LOWERING THE COSTS OF BIO-HYDROGEN PRODUCTION FROM EMPTY FRUIT BUNCH (EFB) WITH SOLAR GASIFICATION – TECHNOECONOMIC AND THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS

ZHAO CHEN1 and ZAIDI MOHD RIPIN1*

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2025.0038
Received: 3 September 2024   Accepted: 8 May 2025   Published Online: 23 July 2025
ABSTRACT

Hydrogen production from empty fruit bunches (EFB) is proposed here using a gasification system powered by solar energy and biomass, generating bio-hydrogen through combined steam methane reforming, along with electricity using an organic Rankine cycle. For EFB input of 1,286 kg/hr, the hourly production is 28.5 kW of electricity and 36 kg of hydrogen. The overall design efficiency is 60.37%, and the equivalent energetic efficiency is 46.33%. Finally, an economic analysis is conducted, showing an 8-year payback period. The system’s environmental friendliness is highlighted by the hydrogen production cost, which is as low as USD1.21/kg. Although the CO2 emissions in this study are relatively high, the CO2 from EFB does not increase the environmental concentration. Importantly, the hydrogen yield from EFB is relatively high at 23.83 H2 g/kg feed.

KEYWORDS:


1 School of Mechanical Engineering,
Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.

* Corresponding author e-mail: mezaidi@usm.my

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