The Need

Global demand for low‑carbon hydrogen is rising, yet current methods carry efficiency penalties, complex gas clean‑up, and cost and footprint burdens. These drawbacks are amplified when upgrading dilute or variable‑quality feedstocks such as biogas and waste‑derived fuels. Industry needs a more efficient, feed‑flexible pathway that can directly convert low‑value carbonaceous streams into high‑purity hydrogen while minimizing downstream separations and enabling compelling project economics.

The Technology

OSU engineers have developed a novel counter‑current, two‑reactor chemical looping process using circulating oxygen‑carrier particles in moving beds: a reducer converts fuel to oxidation products while reducing the carrier; an oxidizer reacts steam with the reduced carrier to generate hydrogen. An external heat source (e.g., furnace, electric/solar) reheats particles via a heat‑exchange step, closing the loop. The configuration targets a raw hydrogen product without downstream WGS/PSA and accommodates biogas, biomass‑derived gas, natural gas, and other carbonaceous feeds.

Benefits/Advantages

• Higher efficiency, lower auxiliary power.
• High hydrogen yield potential approaching thermodynamic limits with external heating.
• Reduces capital cost.
• Reduces particle attrition.