Cleaner production of polyurethane (PU) foams through use of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) spent catalyst

Ali Yaras; Mehrab Nodehi; Abid Ustaoglu; Hasan Arslanoglu; Ahmet Sarı; Osman Gencel; Togay Ozbakkaloglu

doi:10.1007/s11356-022-21837-z

Cleaner production of polyurethane (PU) foams through use of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) spent catalyst

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2022 Dec;29(59):88710-88724. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-21837-z. Epub 2022 Jul 15.

Authors

Ali Yaras¹, Mehrab Nodehi², Abid Ustaoglu³, Hasan Arslanoglu⁴, Ahmet Sarı^{5

6}, Osman Gencel⁷, Togay Ozbakkaloglu⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Design, Bartin University, 74100, Bartin, Turkey.
² Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Design, Bartin University, 74100, Bartin, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Çanakkale, Turkey.
⁵ Department of Metallurgical and Material Engineering, Karadeniz Technical University, 61080, Trabzon, Turkey.
⁶ Centers of Research Excellence, Renewable Energy Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Design, Bartin University, 74100, Bartin, Turkey.
⁸ Ingram School of Engineering, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA. Togay.oz@txstate.edu.

PMID: 35838937
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-21837-z

Abstract

Due to the increased population in the urbanized areas, considerable attention is being paid on the development of energy-efficient buildings. In construction, the use of insulating foams has grabbed considerable attention in recent decades due to their porous structure that can reduce thermo-acoustic conductivity leading to higher energy efficiency. Nonetheless, the production of certain foams (e.g., polymer foams) is based on harmful chemical substances, such as isocyanate, as well as having difficulty being recycled. In this regard, this study adopted the use of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) spent catalyst, which is a byproduct of petroleum industry and is known to be a hazardous solid waste material, to produce a more environmentally friendly composite foam with lower thermal conductivity. In this sense, a series of material property tests, as well as thermal conductivity test, have been conducted. In addition, to further confirm the impact of HDS inclusion in the produced foams, energy cost savings and CO₂ emission reduction based on their actual application in four different environments and four different fuel types for heating have been evaluated. The results are found to be highly promising and point to the great potential of utilizing HDS spent catalyst as a hazardous waste to enhance the efficiency of foams leading to CO₂ emission and energy use reduction by up to 68.79 kg/m² and 8.6 kWh/m², respectively. Finally, this would reduce the heating cost, up to 0.69 $/m² in an idealized building. In the end, suggestions for future studies in this area are also provided.

Keywords: CO2 reduction; Energy savings; Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) spent catalyst; Polyurethane (PU) foams; Polyurethane composites; Thermal performance.