A review of municipal solid waste gasification for hydrogen production: Influencing factors, novel technologies, and engineering prospects

The rapid growth of municipal solid waste (MSW) has posed severe environmental challenges, making its safe and resource-efficient disposal crucial for urban sustainable development. Gasification technology offers a promising route for the high-value utilization of MSW by converting it into hydrogen-rich syngas that can be used for power generation, heating, or the production of high-purity H 2 fuels. However, the heterogeneous and variable composition of MSW complicates gasification, while the coupled effects of operating parameters on H 2 formation remain insufficiently understood. Moreover, a systematic understanding that integrates feedstock characteristics, process optimization, and emerging gasification technologies for efficient H 2 generation is still lacking. Therefore, this review systematically summarizes the fundamental characteristics of MSW, the pyrolysis and gasification behaviors of MSW and products characteristics. Key process parameters affecting hydrogen production, including gasifying agents, reaction temperature, residence time, and catalyst type, are critically analyzed. In addition, recent advances in novel heating-assisted gasification technologies, including plasma, Joule heating, electromagnetic induction heating, and microwave heating, are reviewed, together with novel processes such as chemical looping gasification. Finally, large-scale industrial applications of MSW gasification and the recent syngas purification methods for pure H 2 production are summarized, followed by an outlook on the future development trends and research priorities for MSW gasification toward sustainable hydrogen production. This review is expected to provide valuable guidance for the process optimization, development of novel gasification technologies, and engineering application of municipal solid waste (MSW) gasification technology for hydrogen production.