Microwave-Assisted Co-Gasification of Mixed Plastics and Corn Stover to Produce Clean Hydrogen Using Fe-Based Catalyst

Conference · Sun Mar 17 04:00:00 EDT 2024

OSTI ID:2324618

Abedin, Ashraf ^[1]; Gibens, Benjamin ^[2]; Shekhawat, Dushyant ^[3]

---

1. NETL Site Support Contractor, National Energy Technology Laboratory
2. Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF)
3. NETL

Microwave-assisted gasification is an energy-efficient alternative to conventional gasification in which known feedstocks can be converted into syngas, char, and other byproducts to produce clean hydrogen at lower temperatures (~550 °C) through selective heating. Fe oxides are well-known gasification catalysts that can reduce in-situ to activate the methyl radicals by supplying surface oxygen and promoting H2 formation. This study introduces Fe2O3 as a microwave-active catalyst to enhance H2 production and tar reduction for plastic-corn stover co-gasification. The results found that the microwave reaction at 800 °C produced 24 times more mmol of hydrogen per kWh energy as compared to the conventional run at 900 °C. The X-ray diffraction results show the presence of Fe3O4 and FeO peaks indicating reduction of Fe2O3 to help devolatize reaction intermediates; while the appearance of metallic Fe in the microwave run at 800 °C indicates that Fe2O3 achieves full reduction at the microwave gasification temperature yielding maximum hydrogen production.

• Research Organization: National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
• OSTI ID: 2324618
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English