Production of Hydrogen and Nanocarbon by Catalytic Decomposition of Electrocracking Gas over an Industrial Catalyst under Integrated Reactor Conditions

Hydrogen and nanocarbon were produced by the catalytic decomposition of electrocracking gas obtained by the pyrolysis of liquid organic waste via electric arc discharge. The GIAP-16 (NiO-Al2O3) industrial catalyst was used to reduce the maximum decomposition temperature to 700 °C. In a fixed-bed reactor, under atmospheric pressure, reasonable amounts of high-purity hydrogen were produced, accompanied by deposits of nanocarbon by-product. The NiO-Al2O3 catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity. X-ray powder diffraction analysis of the NiO-Al2O3 composite revealed the presence of cubic NiO and rhombohedral Al2O3, which were chemically stable. However, above 500 °C, NiAl2O4 began to appear. The specific surface area of the catalyst was determined to be 65.45 m2/g, and highly dispersed, with a pore size distribution centred around 4 nm. The morphologies of GIAP-16 and the nanocarbon were investigated by scanning electron microscopy; the catalyst contained an agglomeration of particles with thin well-formed filaments among much wider nanofibres and soot.