Productive and Sustainable H 2 Production from Waste Aluminum Using Copper Oxides-Based Graphene Nanocatalysts: A Techno-Economic Analysis

Mokhtar Ali Amrani (), Yara Haddad, Firas Obeidat, Atef M. Ghaleb (), Sobhi Mejjaouli, Ibrahim Rahoma, Mansour S. A. Galil, Mutahar Shameeri, Ahmed A. Alsofi and Amin Saif
Additional contact information
Mokhtar Ali Amrani: Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan
Yara Haddad: Department of Alternative Energy Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan
Firas Obeidat: Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan
Atef M. Ghaleb: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia
Sobhi Mejjaouli: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Alfaisal University, Riyadh 11533, Saudi Arabia
Ibrahim Rahoma: Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Philadelphia University, Amman 19392, Jordan
Mansour S. A. Galil: Faculty of Medical Sciences, Aljanad University for Science and Technology, Taiz 6803, Yemen
Mutahar Shameeri: Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Taiz University, Taiz 6803, Yemen
Ahmed A. Alsofi: Faculty of Medical Sciences, Aljanad University for Science and Technology, Taiz 6803, Yemen
Amin Saif: Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Taiz University, Taiz 6803, Yemen

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 22, 1-21

Abstract: Hydrogen has universally been considered a reliable source of future clean energy. Its energy conversion, processing, transportation, and storage are techno-economically promising for sustainable energy. This study attempts to maximize the production of H 2 energy using nanocatalysts from waste aluminum chips, an abundant metal that is considered a potential storage tank of H 2 energy with high energy density. The present study indicates that the use of waste aluminum chips in the production of H 2 gas will be free of cost since the reaction by-product, Al 2 O 3 , is denser and can be sold at a higher price than the raw materials, which makes the production cost more efficient and feasible. The current framework investigates seven different copper oxide-based graphene nanocomposites that are synthesized by utilizing green methods and that are well-characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, and surface properties. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multi-layer graphene (MLG) are used as graphene substrates for CuO and Cu 2 O NPs, respectively. These graphene materials exhibited extraordinary catalytic activity, while their copper oxide composites exhibited a complete reaction with feasible techno-economic production. The results revealed that the H 2 production yield and rates increased twofold with the use of these nanocatalysts. The present study recommends the optimum reactor design considerations and reaction parameters that minimize water vaporization in the reaction and suggests practical solutions to quantify and separate it. Furthermore, the present study affords an economic feasibility approach to producing H 2 gas that is competitive and efficient. The cost of producing 1 kg of H 2 gas from waste aluminum chips is USD 6.70, which is both economically feasible and technically applicable. The unit cost of H 2 gas can be steeply reduced by building large-scale plants offering mass production. Finally, the predicted approach is applicable in large, medium, and small cities that can collect industrial waste aluminum in bulk to generate large-scale energy units.

Keywords: graphene; copper oxide; waste aluminum; hydrogen production; nanocomposites; catalysts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15256/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/22/15256/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:22:p:15256-:d:975520

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().