Performance of Different Catalysts for the In Situ Cracking of the Oil-Waxes Obtained by the Pyrolysis of Polyethylene Film Waste

Lucía Quesada, Mónica Calero de Hoces, M. A. Martín-Lara, Germán Luzón and G. Blázquez
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Lucía Quesada: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Mónica Calero de Hoces: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
M. A. Martín-Lara: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Germán Luzón: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
G. Blázquez: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-15

Abstract: Currently, society is facing a great environmental problem, due to the large amount of plastic waste generated, most of which is not subjected to any type of treatment. In this work, polyethylene film waste from the non-selectively collected fraction was catalytically pyrolyzed at 500 °C, 20 °C/min for 2 h, in a discontinuous reactor using nitrogen as an inert gas stream. The main objective of this paper is to find catalysts that decrease the viscosity of the liquid fraction, since this property is quite meaningful in thermal pyrolysis. For this purpose, the three products of catalytic pyrolysis, the gaseous fraction, the solid fraction and the liquid fraction, were separated, obtaining the yield values. After that, the aspect of the liquid fraction was studied, differentiating which catalysts produced a larger quantity of waxy fraction and which ones did not. The viscosity of these samples was measured in order to confirm the catalysts that helped to obtain a less waxy fraction. The results showed that the zeolites Y and the zeolites β used in this study favor the obtaining of a compound with a smaller amount of waxes than for example catalysts such as FCC, ZSM-5 or SnCl 2 .

Keywords: plastic waste; pyrolysis; catalyst; zeolites; viscosity; wax (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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