Autothermal reforming of distillery wastewater: Thermodynamic modelling and experimental results

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2024

Authors

Cerqueira, P (Author) Other; Rocha, C (Author) FEUP; Soria, M. A. (Author) FEUP; Luis Madeira (Author) FEUP

Journal

Title: Energy Conversion and Management

Vol. 309

ISSN: 0196-8904

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 0 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-010-AEZ

DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2024.118442

Abstract (EN): Distillery wastewater (DW) is a byproduct of the wine distillery industry, posing environmental challenges due to its pollutant nature and costly disposal. This study investigates steam reforming as a method for treating and valorizing DW by removing pollutants while generating renewable hydrogen. Traditional reforming (TR) and autothermal reforming (ATR - combining steam reforming and partial oxidation) processes are explored across varying DW compositions (mix 1-5) derived from lees, pomace, and wine. Simulations are performed under different conditions (temperature: 300-1000 degrees C, pressure: 1-20 bar, and oxygen -to -carbon ratio: 0-0.5 mol O 2 . mol C -1 ). Results show mix 2 (from lees) yields 9.06 mol H 2 . mol DW -1 at 500 degrees C and 1 bar. For mix 2, the TR achieves a relative H 2 yield of 99.78 %, and the ATR 88.16 %. Despite producing less hydrogen, ATR reaches thermally neutral operation, since the oxidation reactions are exothermic. Experimental validation utilizing a fixed -bed reactor with a Ru-Ni catalyst supported on SiO 2 and doped with La 2 O 3 is performed for temperatures of 300-700 degrees C, 1 bar pressure, weight -hour space velocity (WHSV) of 12.1 h -1 and oxygen -to -carbon molar ratio of 0.22 mol O 2 . mol C -1 . Thermodynamic equilibrium is reached experimentally at temperatures exceeding 500 degrees C for TR and 600 degrees C for ATR, matching simulation results.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11