Conversion of biomass to H2 via chemical looping: Experimental evaluation of various wood feedstocks and thermodynamic integrated process analysis Ranjani Siriwardane*1, Jarrett Riley1,2 and Chris Atallah 1,2 1 U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, P.O. Box 880, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880 2 Leidos Research and Support Team, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV 26507-0880 *Ranjani.siriwardane@netl.doe.gov ABSTRACT Conversion of woody biomass to H2 by a chemical looping process which involves reduction of CaFe2O4 with biomass volatiles and char followed by steam oxidation of reduced CaFe2O4 to produce H2 was demonstrated in bench scale reactor tests at 800-925 0C . Biomass reacted with CaFe2O4 to primarily produce CO, CO2, H2, H2O and CH4. Higher temperatures and higher residence time of the gas flow during reaction enhanced deeper reduction and better H2 production during the subsequent steam oxidation step. Reduced CaFe2O4 catalyzed the tar cracking indicated by the ~100% carbon balance when the oxygen carrier was present. High steam to H2 conversion rates of 75 - 85% with reduced CaFe2O4 was observed during steam oxidation. A 25-cycle test showed a very stable H2 production rate performance. High pressure (95 PSI) operation had positive effects. Biomass with less moisture content and higher carbon content contributed to pure H2 production with no residual biomass steam gasification products. A thermodynamic integrated process analysis for the process indicated very positive results.