Plasma pyrolysis feasibility study of Spent Caustic waste to hydrogen production

Abstract

Spent caustic is a used industrial caustic whose chemical content puts it in the special waste category. The disposal of this waste and the production of value-added products from it has attracted the attention of researchers not only to solve environmental problems but also to take advantage of its byproducts. This research has experimentally proved the transferred thermal plasma technology as a practical method feasible for the disposal of spent caustic. In this study, the applied voltage, electrical current, and feed rate are variable parameters, and others are kept constant. GC analysis showed H₂ as the main product, which is environmentally beneficial. The percentage of hydrogen production of approximately 74% is a promising result, considering the difficulty of achieving such a high percentage of hydrogen.