Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification

Ji Young Nam; Tae Ryeon Lee; Diyar Tokmurzin; Sung Jin Park; Ho Won Ra; Sang Jun Yoon; Tae Young Mun; Sung Min Yoon; Ji Hong Moon; Jae Goo Lee; Dong Hyun Lee; Myung Won Seo

doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720

Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification

Ji Young Nam, Tae Ryeon Lee, Diyar Tokmurzin, Sung Jin Park, Ho Won Ra, Sang Jun Yoon, Tae Young Mun, Sung Min Yoon, Ji Hong Moon, Jae Goo Lee, Dong Hyun Lee, Myung Won Seo

School of Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H₂, CO, CH₄, and CO₂ content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm³ and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.

Original language	English
Article number	125720
Journal	Fuel
Volume	331
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720
State	Published - 1 Jan 2023

Keywords

Activated carbon
Disposable COVID-19 mask
Fluidized bed
Steam gasification
Tar

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720

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@article{4b080bc8930e4b9e9914709d99e8a4f8,

title = "Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification",

abstract = "Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H2, CO, CH4, and CO2 content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm3 and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.",

keywords = "Activated carbon, Disposable COVID-19 mask, Fluidized bed, Steam gasification, Tar",

author = "Nam, {Ji Young} and Lee, {Tae Ryeon} and Diyar Tokmurzin and Park, {Sung Jin} and Ra, {Ho Won} and Yoon, {Sang Jun} and Mun, {Tae Young} and Yoon, {Sung Min} and Moon, {Ji Hong} and Lee, {Jae Goo} and Lee, {Dong Hyun} and Seo, {Myung Won}",

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doi = "10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720",

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volume = "331",

journal = "Fuel",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification

AU - Nam, Ji Young

AU - Lee, Tae Ryeon

AU - Tokmurzin, Diyar

AU - Park, Sung Jin

AU - Ra, Ho Won

AU - Yoon, Sang Jun

AU - Mun, Tae Young

AU - Yoon, Sung Min

AU - Moon, Ji Hong

AU - Lee, Jae Goo

AU - Lee, Dong Hyun

AU - Seo, Myung Won

PY - 2023/1/1

Y1 - 2023/1/1

N2 - Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H2, CO, CH4, and CO2 content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm3 and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.

AB - Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H2, CO, CH4, and CO2 content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm3 and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.

KW - Activated carbon

KW - Disposable COVID-19 mask

KW - Fluidized bed

KW - Steam gasification

KW - Tar

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U2 - 10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720

DO - 10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125720

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Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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