Biomass-based Chemical Looping Hydrogen Production: Performance Evaluation and Economic Viability

Chemical looping hydrogen generation (CLHG) from biomass is a promising technology for producing carbonnegative hydrogen. However, achieving autothermal operation without sacrificing hydrogen yield presents a significant thermodynamic challenge. This study proposes and evaluates a novel thermal management strategy that enables a self-sustaining process by balancing the system’s heat load with its internal exothermic reactions. A comprehensive analysis was conducted using process simulation to assess the system’s thermodynamic performance, identify key sources of inefficiency through exergy analysis, and determine its economic viability via a detailed techno-economic assessment. The results show that a 200 MWth CLHG plant can produce 2.06 t-H2/h with a hydrogen production efficiency and exergy efficiency of 34.46 % and 44.4 %, respectively. The exergy analysis identified the fuel reactor as the largest source of thermodynamic inefficiency, accounting for 66.4 % of the total exergy destruction. The techno-economic analysis yielded a base-case minimum selling price (MSP) of hydrogen of 2.63 USD/kg, a rate competitive with other carbon-capture-enabled hydrogen production methods. Sensitivity analysis confirmed that the MSP is most influenced by biomass price and discount rate. Crucially, the system’s carbon-negative nature allows it to leverage carbon pricing schemes, which can significantly improve its economic performance. Under the EU’s current carbon price, the MSP falls to 0.98 USD/kg-H2, and it can become negative in regions with higher carbon taxes, suggesting profitability from carbon credits alone. This study demonstrates that the proposed CLHG system is a technically robust and economically compelling pathway for clean hydrogen production, particularly in regulatory environments that incentivize carbon capture.