High-yield H2 production from polypropylene through pyrolysis-catalytic reforming over activated carbon based nickel catalyst

With the aggravation of energy crisis and environmental pollution, green and renewable new alternative energy has become the focus of global attention. Hydrogen energy has become an important part of the global energy pattern in the future. Conversion of solid waste plastics into hydrogen energy by pyrolysis/gasification is a promising solution. This study aims to explore a method of high-yield in hydrogen by breaking down polypropylene, a cheap and efficient nickel catalyst is prepared and applied to the experimental study of hydrogen production by pyrolysis-catalytic reforming. The effects of catalytic temperature, Ni loading (%) and catalyst addition amount on hydrogen production of catalyst were investigated, the hydrogen production was increased by introducing water vapor. Under the optimized reaction parameters (catalytic temperature 900 °C, PP to catalyst ratio 1:0.75, Ni loading 15 wt%), the hydrogen yield is up to 40.24 mmol/g PP without water and 134.91 mmol/g PP with water, the addition of water significantly increased hydrogen production. this results have obvious advantages in hydrogen production compared with similar studies. Furthermore, the existence of various forms (snake-like, straight carbon nanotubes and carbon nanospheres) of carbon deposition found in this paper can provide new ideas for researchers working on graphite carbon. This study provides an effective new approaches for enhancing hydrogen production by pyrolysis/gasification of waste plastics.