Study on Nitrogenous Fertilizer Industry Spent Catalyst as Substitutes Materials for Production of Hydrogen by Steam-Iron Process

R.P. Prajapati¹*, Anand Sharma² and D.R. Tiwari³

¹Department of Chemistry (DESM) Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Bhopal - 462 013 (India). ²Department of Chemistry and Government MVM, Bhopal - 462 001 (India). ³Department of Geology, Government MVM, Bhopal - 462 001 (India).

Nitrogenous fertilizer industry generated so many spent catalysts during the manufacturing of fertilzers. Catalysts used in the fertilizers production process need to disposal off after their activities are significantly reduced. Disposal of spent catalyst is a problem as it falls under the category of hazardous industrial waste. So many chemical industries, manufacturing products like vegetable oils, pharmaceutical products, fertilizer, paints and pigments etc., are require a cheaper source of pure hydrogen. The demand for hydrogen is likely to go up a thousand fold, when the world’s fossil fuel stock will be exhausted and technology must turn to hydrogen to be used as fuel. For the production of sufficient quantities of hydrogen of the requisite purity, the antique steam-iron process still remains one of the most attractions from various indigenous source of iron oxide as substitute materials for hydrogen production. Activity and production behaviour of catalyst was observed by magnetic data which indicated that sintered haematite and spent ammonia catalyst are unsuitable for production of hydrogen, but gives better yield of hydrogen.

Nitrogenous fertilizer, Catalyst; steam-iron process