Nahil, MA, Wu, C and Williams, PT (2015) Influence of metal addition to Ni-based catalysts for the co-production of carbon nanotubes and hydrogen from the thermal processing of waste polypropylene. Fuel Processing Technology, 130. 46 - 53. ISSN 0378-3820
Abstract
This paper investigates the co-production of hydrogen and carbon nanotubes from the pyrolysis-catalytic gasification of waste plastics (polypropylene). We report on the influence of a range of metal additions to a nickel based catalyst based on ternary mixed oxide types Ni-Metal-Al, where the metal was Zn, Mg, Ca, Ce or Mn. The results showed that of the different metal-nickel catalysts investigated, the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst was the most promising catalyst in relation to the co-production of hydrogen and CNT. For example, the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst produced 71.4 mmol hydrogen g- 1 plastic, while the hydrogen production using Ni-Ca-Al, Ni-Ce-Al and Ni-Zn-Al catalysts were 68.5 mmol g- 1, 63.1 mmol g- 1 and 45.9 mmol hydrogen g- 1 plastic respectively. In addition, carbon deposition on the catalyst was highest in the order of: Ni-Mn-Al > Ni-Ca-Al > Ni-Zn-Al > Ni-Ce-Al > Ni-Mg-Al. The carbon deposition for the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst was found to consist of mostly carbon nanotubes. Further investigation of the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst demonstrated that the interaction between Ni and catalyst support plays a significant role in the gasification process; weak metal support interaction (for the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst calcined at 300 °C) resulted in a lower hydrogen production and much higher yield of carbon products. In addition, the influence of steam injection rate on hydrogen and carbon nanotube production was investigated for the Ni-Mn-Al catalyst. Increasing the steam injection rate significantly increased hydrogen production and decreased carbon deposition. However, at lower steam injection rates, the quality of the product carbon nanotubes was improved.
Metadata
Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c)2014, Elsevier. This is an author produced version of a paper published in Fuel Processing Technology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Waste; Reforming; Gasification; Plastic; Hydrogen; Carbon nanotubes |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2015 13:03 |
Last Modified: | 27 Oct 2015 19:52 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.09.022 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2014.09.022 |
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