Production of thermal energy storage and hydrogen-rich gas from biomass
Project no. 22276 · Status: Kapanmış · 2020
Summary
<p>In this project, carbon-based product production was carried out using a mixture of elephant grass (<em>Miscanthus x giganteus</em>) obtained from affordable and renewable local sources and domestic wastewater treatment sludge for use in hydrogen-rich synthesis gas and energy storage devices. The project focused on the development of a new catalyst, based on local and national resources, using boron and alkali-based catalysts for hydrogen-rich syngas production. Analyses of the synthesis gases obtained after the biomass gasification process, including H2 and CO components, and other gas product contents, were determined through an optimization study to identify parameters affecting H2 production and the effects of the developed catalyst on gasification efficiency. In catalytic gasification studies using elephant grass hydrochar as a model biomass, the condition maximizing H2 content was selected as 899.61 °C, 10.07% boron content, and 0.65 biomass/catalyst ratio. In the experiment, 62.88 mol H2 was obtained. It was observed that the developed catalyst played a significant role in tar removal.</p><p>Following the optimization study examining the effects of different independent parameters (temperature, duration, biomass-to-chemical ratio) on the surface area and pore volume of activated carbon, two optimum conditions (OC1 and OC2) providing the highest surface area and pore volume were determined, and the production of activated carbon was carried out. The produced activated carbons were utilized as electrode material in electrochemical double-layer capacitors and as a support material for shape-stable phase change materials (SSPCMs) in thermal energy storage systems. In supercapacitor application, OC1 with a micro and mesoporous structure (240 Fg-1) exhibited higher specific capacitance compared to OC2 with a mesoporous structure (118 Fg-1). Among the obtained SSPCMs, SP-OC2 stood out and demonstrated a superior encapsulation ratio of 88.95% and an increased thermal conductivity value of 0.597 W/(m.K).</p>