Overview of Biogas Reforming Technologies for Hydrogen Production: Advantages and Challenges

In the past two decades, production of biogas from biomass degradation has drawn the attention of several researchers. Biogas is produced during anaerobic degradation of plant and animal wastes, basically consisting of higher concentrations of methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), and trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide (H2S). This biogas is an extremely potential and interesting source for the production of hydrogen gas (H-2). Hydrogen gas finds tremendous quantum of applications as an essential raw material to meet the several H-2 demands such as high temperature fuel cell, combustion engine, petrochemical and fertilizer industries, mostly ammonia production. Traditionally, large-scale production of H-2 gas involves a thermal reforming process that uses light hydrocarbons, mainly natural gas. Biogas which is regarded as a renewable source of methane, reduces the excessive burden on natural gas. It can also help to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. However, the present methods used for biogas reforming have several technological limitations, which may depend on the quality of biogas produced, the conversion efficiency of the process, and specific requirements for the integration of H-2 production, purification, transportation, and application. This study reviews several biogas reforming methods, the types of catalyst used, the advantages and disadvantages offered by each route during the processing.