Hydrogen-rich gas production from disposable COVID-19 mask by steam gasification

Globally, the demand for masks has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in 490,201 tons of waste masks disposed of per month. Since masks are used in places with a high risk of virus infection, waste masks retain the risk of virus contamination. In this study, a 1 kg/h lab-scale (diameter: 0.114 m, height: 1 m) bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used for steam gasification (temperature: 800 °C, steam/carbon (S/C) ratio: 1.5) of waste masks. The use of a downstream reactor with activated carbon (AC) for tar cracking and the enhancement of hydrogen production was examined. Steam gasification with AC produces syngas with H₂, CO, CH₄, and CO₂ content of 38.89, 6.40, 21.69, and 7.34 vol%, respectively. The lower heating value of the product gas was 29.66 MJ/Nm³ and the cold gas efficiency was 74.55 %. This study showed that steam gasification can be used for the utilization of waste masks and the production of hydrogen-rich gas for further applications.