Hydrogen production through the integration of biomass gasification and residual steelmaking streams

As energy systems transition towards greater sustainability, green hydrogen is emerging as a clean and flexible solution. This study evaluates the potential of using biomass and residual streams from steelmaking processes as feedstocks for hydrogen production, integrating renewable resources and waste utilization to enable sustainable hydrogen generation while supporting industrial decarbonization efforts. The simulated plant includes biomass gasification and syngas upgrading through steam reforming and water-gas shift (WGS) reactors. The results demonstrate the viability of the integrated plant and identify optimal operating conditions for different scenarios: feeding solely biomass or incorporating gases from coke ovens, blast furnaces, and electric arc furnaces. A syngas upgrading configuration based on a single steam reforming reactor and two WGS reactors operating at different temperatures proves to be the most versatile option for effectively integrating these highly dissimilar feedstocks. Since the process involves stages operating at markedly different temperatures, energy integration is feasible, contributing to improved overall energy efficiency. • Steelmaking gases like COG and BFG evaluated for hydrogen production • Integration with biomass gasification increases hydrogen yields • Steam reforming and WGS reactor configuration optimized for syngas upgrading • Heat integration ensures techno-economic viability of the proposed system