AVALIAÇÃO DO USO DE ELETRODO DE AÇO 254 E FILME TIO2 NA PRODUÇÃO DE HIDROGÊNIO EM SOLUÇÕES DE ÁCIDO FÓRMICO E ÁGUAS RESIDUAIS

Abstract

Hydrogen is a clean fuel, which has been touted as an energy alternative for countries seeking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Despite being the most abundant element on Earth, protein is not found in isolation in nature and must be produced from a raw material that contains it. One of the main raw materials used in the production of hydrogen in the world is fossil fuels, especially coal and natural gas. In some countries, such as the United States, catalytic reforming of methane is also widely used. Although the production of hydrogen from natural gas is the most used route, water electrolysis is the most environmentally advantageous, being responsible for producing what is called green hydrogen, in which there are no CO2 emissions in the production process. Aiming to expand hydrogen production through water electrolysis, one possibility would be to use wastewater or aqueous waste solutions. Therefore, in this work, hydrogen production was carried out via electrolysis using shale wastewater, aqueous glycerol solution and aqueous formic acid solution, catalyzed by TiO2 microparticles. A simplex-centroid experimental design and desirability optimization was carried out to determine the optimal conditions for hydrogen production with these electrolyte solutions, using threads and without problems. As a result, it was obtained that the best condition to produce hydrogen would be using a mixture of 80% of 3 molL-1 aqueous formic acid solution and 20% of glycerol aqueous solution as electrolyte solution. Hydrogen quantification in this condition indicated a maximum production of 0.035 mol in 1h in fact, applying -1.15 V overvoltage. Optimization in the study without findings indicated that the best condition for hydrogen production would be with 100% aqueous solution of 3 molL-1 formic acid as the electrolyte solution. In this case, 0.042 mol of hydrogen were produced in 120 minuts of occurrence. Regarding the production cost, it takes 43.42 R$ cm2 to produce 1 mole of hydrogen using TiO2 as findings. When not used, the cost is 47.86 R$ cm2 per mole. Therefore, we can conclude that the planning is efficient in reducing the costs of producing hydrogen via electrolysis and in contributing to energy expenditure.