Porous Ceramics Adsorbents Based on Glass Fiber-Reinforced Plastics for NO and SO Removal

To reuse waste glass fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRPs), porous ceramics (i.e., GFRP/clay ceramics) were produced by mixing crushed GFRP with clay followed by firing the resulting mixture under different conditions. The possibility of using ceramics fired under a reducing atmosphere as adsorbent materials to remove NO and SO from combustion gases of fossil fuels was investigated because of the high porosity, specific surface area, and contents of glass fibers and plastic carbides of the ceramics. NO and SO adsorption tests were conducted on several types of GFRP/clay ceramic samples, and the gas concentration reduction rates were compared to those of a clay ceramic and a volcanic pumice with high NO adsorption. In addition, to clarify the primary factor affecting gas adsorption, adsorption tests were conducted on the glass fibers in the GFRP and GFRP carbides. The reductively fired GFRP/clay ceramics exhibited high adsorption performance for both NO and SO. The primary factor affecting the NO adsorption of the ceramics was the plastic carbide content in the clay structure, while that affecting the SO adsorption of the ceramics was the glass fiber content.