Hydrogen Production from Corn Stover Pyrolysis Enhanced by Sewage Sludge Pyrolysis Char-CaO

Municipal sewage sludge was used to prepare sewage sludge pyrolysis char (SS-PC). The effects of pyrolysis temperature on the morphology and structure of SS-PC were investigated, and the performance of SS-PC-800, prepared at 800 °C, for promoting gas production from corn stover pyrolysis was evaluated in a fixed-bed reactor. The results suggested that adding SS-PC-800 promoted the pyrolysis of corn stover and reduced the activation energy required for thermal decomposition. A further comparison of five metal oxides indicated that CaO had the most pronounced effect on H2 formation under the tested conditions. A synergistic effect was observed when reactive CaO was introduced into SS-PC. At a pyrolysis temperature of 800 °C, when the mass ratio of CaO to SS-PC-800 was 2:3 and the mass ratio of mixed catalyst to corn stover was 1:5, the H2 yield was 26.5% higher than that obtained from corn stover pyrolysis alone. In this study, SS-PC was employed as a catalytic material, and the synergistic interaction between its catalytic components and CaO effectively enhanced H2 production during biomass pyrolysis. These findings can provide a useful reference for the resource utilization of municipal sludge and the development of catalysts for biomass thermochemical conversion.