Investigation of nickel-impregnated zeolite catalysts for hydrogen/syngas production from the catalytic reforming of waste polyethylene

[Display omitted] •Waste HDPE has been processed using Ni-zeolite catalysts for H2/syngas production.•Maximum syngas of 100.72 mmol g−1plastic & low coke formation with Ni/ZSM5.•Ni/Y-zeolite had mostly ultra-micropores giving higher coke formation.•Ni/ZSM-5 had Ni distributed within pores giving higher H2 yield.•Increasing both catalyst temperature & steam input increased H2/syngas yield. Catalytic steam reforming of waste high density polyethylene for the production of hydrogen/syngas has been investigated using different zeolite supported nickel catalysts in a two-stage pyrolysis-catalytic steam reforming reactor system. Experiments were conducted into the influence of the type of zeolite where Ni/ZSM5-30, Ni/β-zeolite-25 and the Ni/Y-zeolite-30 catalysts were compared in relation to hydrogen and syngas production. Results showed that the Ni/ZSM5-30 catalyst generated the maximum syngas production of 100.72 mmol g−1plastic, followed by the Ni/β-zeolite-25 and Ni/Y-zeolite-30 catalyst. In addition, the ZSM-5 supported nickel catalyst showed excellent coke resistance and thermal stability. It was found that the Y type zeolite supported nickel catalyst possessed narrower pores than the other catalysts, which in turn, promoted coke deactivation of the catalyst. Large amounts of filamentous carbons were observed on the surface of the Ni/Y-zeolite-30 catalyst from scanning electron microscope images. In addition, the influence of Si:Al molar ratio for the Ni/ZSM-5 catalysts in relation to hydrogen and syngas yield was investigated. The results indicated that hydrogen production was less affected by the Si:Al ratio than the type of zeolite support. Also, the Ni/ZSM5-30 catalyst was further investigated to determine the influence of different process parameters on hydrogen and syngas yield via different reforming temperatures (650, 750, 850 °C) and steam feeding rate (0, 3, 6 g h−1). It was found that increasing both the temperature and steam feeding rate favoured hydrogen production from the pyrolysis-catalytic reforming of waste polyethylene. The optimum catalytic performance in terms of syngas production was achieved when the steam feeding rate was 6 g h−1 and catalyst temperature was 850 °C in the presence of Ni/ZSM5-30 catalyst, with production of 66.09 mmol H2 g−1plastic and 34.63 mmol CO g−1plastic.