Akubo, K, Nahil, MA and Williams, PT orcid.org/0000-0003-0401-9326 (2020) Co-pyrolysis–catalytic steam reforming of cellulose/lignin with polyethylene/polystyrene for the production of hydrogen. Waste Disposal & Sustainable Energy, 2 (3). pp. 177-191. ISSN 2524-7980
Abstract
Co-pyrolysis of biomass biopolymers (lignin and cellulose) with plastic wastes (polyethylene and polystyrene) coupled with downstream catalytic steam reforming of the pyrolysis gases for the production of a hydrogen-rich syngas is reported. The catalyst used was 10 wt.% nickel supported on MCM-41. The influence of the process parameters of temperature and the steam flow rate was examined to optimize hydrogen and syngas production. The cellulose/plastic mixtures produced higher hydrogen yields compared with the lignin/plastic mixtures. However, the impact of raising the catalytic steam reforming temperature from 750 to 850 °C was more marked for lignin addition. For example, the hydrogen yield for cellulose/polyethylene at a catalyst temperature of 750 °C was 50.3 mmol g−1 and increased to 60.0 mmol g−1 at a catalyst temperature of 850 °C. However, for the lignin/polyethylene mixture, the hydrogen yield increased from 25.0 to 50.0 mmol g−1 representing a twofold increase in hydrogen yield. The greater influence on hydrogen and yield for the lignin/plastic mixtures compared to the cellulose/plastic mixtures is suggested to be due to the overlapping thermal degradation profiles of lignin and the polyethylene and polystyrene. The input of steam to the catalyst reactor produced catalytic steam reforming conditions and a marked increase in hydrogen yield. The influence of increased steam input to the process was greater for the lignin/plastic mixtures compared to the cellulose/plastic mixtures, again linked to the overlapping thermal degradation profiles of the lignin and the plastics. A comparison of the Ni/MCM-41 catalyst with Ni/Al2O3 and Ni/Y-zeolite-supported catalysts showed that the Ni/Al2O3 catalyst gave higher yields of hydrogen and syngas.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2020. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | Biomass; Plastics; Catalysis; Hydrogen; Cellulose; Lignin |
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: | 10 Mar 2023 10:28 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2023 23:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s42768-020-00047-8 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:197179 |