A Comparative Study of Eggshell and Commercial Sorbent-Based Catalysts through Synthesis and Characterization for SESR Process

Abstract

Hydrogen is a clean and valuable energy carrier, and there is growing consensus that a hydrogen-based economy could be the key to ensuring the long-term reliability and environmental friendliness of the world’s energy supply. There are a variety of methods and technologies that may be used to produce hydrogen; among them, sorption-enhanced steam reforming is regarded as the way that is the most effective. For the purpose of making a decision about which catalysts to employ in SESR in the future, this study compared three distinct kinds of catalysts. The wet impregnation method was used to manufacture the waste-derived CaO-implemented Ni-based catalysts, which were then used in sorption-enhanced steam reforming (SESR) to produce hydrogen (H2). X-ray diffractometry (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA) were used to analyze the catalysts. XRD results showed that the crystallinity behavior for all types of catalysts such as 10NMA, 10NCMA-E, and 10NCMA was identical. The spinel compounds such as NiAl2O4 and MgAl2O4 were identified in all three types of catalysts. At high temperatures, such as at 800 °C, all catalysts were stable, evident from TGA results. During three sorption cycles, the 10NCMA-based catalyst demonstrated the highest sorption capacity among the three varieties of catalysts, followed by the 10NCMA-E catalyst. During the first, second, and third calcination cycles, the 10NCMA-based catalyst released 23.88%, 22.05%, and 23.33% CO2, respectively. 10NCMA-E can be a potential catalyst for the SESR process by decreasing the material manufacturing cost and overall cost of the SESR process.