Study on the effect of Ni-modified biochar-based catalysts on the steam reforming process of biomass and plastics for hydrogen production

Abstract

As traditional fossil fuels are gradually depleting, finding green and renewable alternative energy sources has become increasingly important. The steam reforming of waste plastics and biomass mixtures for hydrogen production is regarded as a promising solution. Biomass (wheat straw) and Plastic (low-density polyethylene) were picked as the study's basic materials, water (H₂O) was employed as the gasification agent, and biochar (Wheat straw charcoal)-loaded nickel (Ni) was utilized as the catalyst. BET, XRD, FTIR, SEM, and ICP-OMS have been employed to examine the modified biochar's catalyst chemical makeup and structural characteristics. The impact of varying Ni loadings catalyst, catalytic reforming temperature, steam flow rate, and feedstock blending ratio on the process of steam reforming of biomass/plastics to hydrogen were investigated. The outcomes showed that the catalyst Ni/WB-C had functional groups that contained oxygen and a rich pore structure. The optimal experimental conditions for steam reforming of biomass/plastics to hydrogen were achieved at a Ni loading of 15 wt%, pyrolysis temperature of 600 °C, catalytic reforming temperature of 800 °C, steam flow rate of 0.2 g/min, and biomass/plastic ratio of 5:5. In accordance with the aforementioned condition, the total gas yield, the H₂ yield, and its percentage, and the H₂/CO ratio, were found to be 109.4 mmol/g, 77.5 mmol/g, 70.8 %, and 3.97. Therefore, this study provides an effective new approach to enhance H₂ production from steam reforming of waste plastics/biomass.