Hydrothermal gasification performance of Enteromorpha intestinalis as an algal biomass for hydrogen-rich gas production using Ru promoted Fe–Ni/?-Al^sub 2^O^sub 3^ nanocatalysts

• Published in: Energy conversion and management Vol. 141; p. 63
• Main Authors: Norouzi, Omid, Safari, Farid, Jafarian, Sajedeh, Tavasoli, Ahmad, Karimi, Ali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Science Ltd 01-06-2017
• Subjects: Algae; Aluminum; Batch reactors; Biomass; Catalysis; Catalysts; Chemisorption; Enteromorpha intestinalis; Gas production; Gasification; Hydrogen; Hydrogen production; Iron; Nanocatalysis; Nickel; Physicochemical properties; Reaction time; Ruthenium; Studies
• ISSN: 0196-8904; 1879-2227

Supercritical water gasification (SCWG) of Enteromorpha intestinalis (E inresrino/is) as a major algal biomass of southern coast of Caspian Sea was investigated in a batch reactor with and without the catalyst, to determine its potential for hydrogen production. The highest hydrogen yield of 5.25 (mmol H2/g of E intestinalis) was observed for the noncatalytic test in the temperature of 440 °C. water loading of 6 g. E intestinalis loading of 0.06 g and reaction time of 10 min. All catalytic tests were performed in this condition in the presence of unpromoted and ruthenium promoted Ni-Fe/y-AI2O3 nanocatalysts. Catalysts were prepared with 12 wt.% of Ni and 6 wt.% of Fe in the active phase and 0.5-2 wt.% of Ru as a promoter via microemulsion technique. Nanocatalysts were characterized by ICP, BET. XRD. H2 chemisorption, and TEM techniques to recognize their physicochemical properties. According to catalyst characterizations, the promoted Ni-Fe/y-AI2O3 with 2 wt.% Ru with higher dispersion and smaller size of nickel on 7-AI2O3, showed the best performance during SCWG of E intestinalis. The maximum H2 yield of 12.28 (mmol H2/g of E intestinalis) and hydrogen selectivity of 0.74. were obtained by using this optimized catalyst.