A novel ZnO-based adsorbent for biogas purification in H2 production systems

Abstract The aim of this work, which was carried out as part of the BioH2Power project, was to identify a system for both the desulphurization and dehalogenation of landfill biogas at ambient temperature. Such a system should be capable of reducing, to less than 1 ppmv, the substances that are present in the biogas which are considered undesirable for both reforming and Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFCs) catalysts. The principal goal was to identify a multifunctional adsorption bed that would be able to purify the landfill biogas to sulphur and chlorine concentrations of below 1 ppmv, with a high removal efficiency (>99%). Two commercial activated carbons types were studied for this purpose. In addition, for the first time, activated carbon, functionalized by ZnO nanoparticles, was tested at ambient temperature for the simultaneous removal of H 2 S and organochlorinated molecules. The biogas desulphurization results have shown that the 10% ZnO/ROZ3 synthesized material has a higher adsorption capacity than the commercial activated carbon material ROZ3, for H 2 S removal, due to the presence of well dispersed ZnO nanoparticles on the surface of the activated carbon. Moreover, the biogas dehalogenation results confirm that the use of two adsorbent beds in series: RB4W + ZnO/ROZ3, is a good solution because not only does the removal capacity of H 2 S remain but also because it improves the performance of the abatement of high molecular weight halogenated hydrocarbons.

[1]  J. Jia,et al.  Low-temperature H2S removal from gas streams with SBA-15 supported ZnO nanoparticles , 2008 .

[2]  P. R. Norman,et al.  Estimation of activated carbon adsorption efficiency for organic vapours: I. A strategy for selecting test compounds , 2002 .

[3]  Debora Fino,et al.  Studies on the redox properties of chromite perovskite catalysts for soot combustion , 2005 .

[4]  Raf Dewil,et al.  Energy use of biogas hampered by the presence of siloxanes. , 2006 .

[5]  J. Kelly,et al.  Growth of well-defined ZnO microparticles by hydroxide ion , 2003 .

[6]  Marwan Abdou Ahmed,et al.  Structural changes in zinc ferrites as regenerable sorbents for hot coal gas desulfurization , 2000 .

[7]  Chunshan Song,et al.  Low-Temperature H2S Removal from Steam-Containing Gas Mixtures with ZnO for Fuel Cell Application. 1. ZnO Particles and Extrudates , 2004 .

[8]  A. Muto,et al.  Removal of organic chlorine compounds by catalytic dehydrochlorination for the refinement of municipal waste plastic derived oil , 2001 .

[9]  Nicolas Abatzoglou,et al.  A review of biogas purification processes , 2009 .

[10]  Fabrizio Scarpa,et al.  Biogas purification for MCFC application , 2011 .

[11]  J. Fierro,et al.  Production of hydrogen by partial oxidation of methanol over carbon-supported copper catalysts , 2004 .

[12]  K. Byrappa,et al.  Impregnation of ZnO onto activated carbon under hydrothermal conditions and its photocatalytic properties , 2006 .

[13]  J. Mota,et al.  Adsorption of natural gas and biogas components on activated carbon , 2008 .

[14]  Nunzio Russo,et al.  MSW landfill biogas desulfurization , 2011 .