Catalytic Gasification of Pig Hair Biowastes with Hydrogen Production Over Nio/Al2o3 Catalyst for Fuel Cell Application

Hydrogen gas can be effectively produced by the catalytic gasification of pig hair biowastes (PHB) using a laboratory-scale fixed-bed gasifier, employing 15 wt% NiO/Al 2 O 3 nanocatalyst at 753–913 K. From thermogravimetric experiments, the derived kinetic parameters can be obtained and refined using simulation calculations. The XANES data revealed that the central Ni atoms have Ni–O (2.01 Å) and Ni–Ni (2.34 Å) bond distances in the fresh NiO/Al 2 O 3 nanocatalyst. The PHB was ultimately converted into hydrogen-rich syngas (CO + H 2 , >89.8% dry basis). When PHB (250 kg h −1 ) was catalytically gasified at 753–913 K, syngas was produced at approximately 5.45 × 10 5 kcal h −1 of heat recovery with 76.5%–83.5% cold gas efficiency. Moreover, the simulation of the pilot-scale PHB catalytic gasification demonstrates that the system can provide hydrogen (purity > 99.99%) and generate electricity for an internal combustion engine of 100 kW and a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) of 175 kW. Moreover, a projected payback for a PHB catalytic gasification plant with a capacity of 10- or 20-TPD (ton per day) was around 3.2 or 2.5 years, respectively