Exergy analysis of hydrogen production from manipueira biogas

The use of hydrogen as clean energy has been becoming more attractive, because it is the most abundant element in the universe, the lightest fuel and richest in energy per unit mass. Cassava is a commodity of great importance in several underdeveloped countries, where its products and by-products are of great importance in the food chain of these nations. Thus, the possibility of produce hydrogen from cassava wastewater (manipueira) not only recover the energy contained in cassava wastes but also eliminate most of the hydrocyanic acid contamination problems. The aim of this study is to perform the exergy analysis of hydrogen production by steam reforming from different biogases and analyze the hydrogen production in many different scenarios, showing that cassava wastewater has great potential for hydrogen production. Four different types of methane concentration were studied: 70.25, 75.5, 80.9, and 97.14%. The exergy analysis of the process and the production of hydrogen were calculated through simulation of the process using HYSYS software version 8.0. The results from these analyzes showed this is an alternative environmentally attractive and adding values to the cassava supply chain.