Hydrogen is the future energy carrier with zero carbon footprint. Currently more than 97% of hydrogen produced comes from fossil fuels, mainly, natural gas via steam methane reforming [1]. Present work is an attempt to establish biomass as a source for future hydrogen production. Oxy-steam gasification of biomass produces synthesis gas enriched with hydrogen. In present work, experimental results from a fixed bed downdraft gasifier have been taken as basis for analysis of four routes to produce 99.999% hydrogen. The four routes involve pressure swing adsorption (PSA) system to separate hydrogen from gas mixture after gasification. Hydrogen enrichment after gasification by water gas shift reaction (WGSR) and CO2 removal option before PSA have also been analyzed to find the most suitable route to reach pure hydrogen after oxy-steam gasification. The analysis indicates that routes 2 and 3 which involve hydrogen enrichment by WGSR after obtaining cold gas have the maximum hydrogen yield of 107.4 g/kg of biomass at an SBR of 1.8. It is also found that in an effort to decrease the flow rate to decrease the compressor power, CO2 removal may not be suitable as it is an energy intensive process. Also, hydrogen enrichment by WGSR requires energy at the rate of 2.7 to 5 MJ/kg of cold gas. From the analysis of energy spent in obtaining pure hydrogen after gasification, it is evident that simplest route, route 1 is the most economic. Hydrogen yield in routes with WGS enrichment increases but specific energy consumption (MJ/kg H-2) also increases.
