Characterization of leaf waste based biochar for cost effective hydrogen sulphide removal from biogas

Abstract

Installation of decentralized units for biogas production along with indigenous upgradation systems can be an effective approach to meet growing energy demands of the rural population. Therefore, readily available leaf waste was used to prepare biochar at different temperatures and employed for H₂S removal from biogas produced via anaerobic digestion plant. It is found that biochar prepared via carbonization of leaf waste at 400 °C effectively removes 84.2% H₂S (from 1254 ppm to 201 ppm) from raw biogas for 25 min in a continuous adsorption tower. Subsequently, leaf waste biochar compositional, textural and morphological properties before and after H₂S adsorption have been analyzed using proximate analysis, CHNS, BET surface area, FTIR, XRD, and SEM-EDX. It is found that BET surface area, pore size, and textural properties of leaf waste biochar plays a crucial role in H₂S removal from the biogas.

Keywords: Adsorption; Biochar; Biogas; H(2)S removal; Leaf waste.