Basic Characteristics of Food Waste and Food Ash on Steam Gasification

Thermochemical conversion of food waste such as kitchen waste is one approach to promoting the reduction of the final waste amount and the utilization of biomass energy instead of fossil fuels. In the present study, the possibility of effective hydrogen production from food waste was investigated. It was found that the ash in food waste and calcium oxide as the main compound in the ash play important roles in promoting hydrogen production. That is, first, ash containing large amounts of alkali components has the effect of increasing the hydrogen production and shifting steam gasification conditions to lower temperature. Second, the calcium oxide contained in the ash of food waste absorbs the carbon dioxide generated by steam gasification, resulting in the promotion of hydrogen production.