Kinetic Analysis for the Catalytic Pyrolysis of Polypropylene over Low Cost Mineral Catalysts

Young-Min Kim, Sumin Pyo, Hanie Hakimian, Kyung-Seun Yoo, Gwang-Hoon Rhee and Young-Kwon Park
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Young-Min Kim: Department of Environmental Engineering, Daegu University, Gyeongsan 38453, Korea
Sumin Pyo: School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Korea
Hanie Hakimian: School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Korea
Kyung-Seun Yoo: Department of Environmental Engineering, Kwanwoon University, Seoul 01897, Korea
Gwang-Hoon Rhee: Department of Mechanical and Information Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Korea
Young-Kwon Park: School of Environmental Engineering, University of Seoul, Seoul 02504, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-10

Abstract: A kinetic analysis of non-catalytic pyrolysis (NCP) and catalytic pyrolysis (CP) of polypropylene (PP) with different catalysts was performed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and kinetic models. Three kinds of low-cost natural catalysts were used to maximize the cost-effectiveness of the process: natural zeolite (NZ), bentonite, olivine, and a mesoporous catalyst, Al-MCM-41. The decomposition temperature of PP and apparent activation energy (Ea) were obtained from the TGA results at multiple heating rates, and a model-free kinetic analysis was performed using the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa model. TGA indicated that the maximum decomposition temperature (T max ) of the PP was shifted from 464 °C to 347 °C with Al-MCM-41 and 348 °C with bentonite, largely due to their strong acidity and large pore size. Although olivine had a large pore size, the T max of PP was only shifted to 456 °C, because of its low acidity. The differential TG (DTG) curve of PP over NZ revealed a two-step mechanism. The T max of the first peak on the DTG curve of PP with NZ was 376 °C due to the high acidity of NZ. On the other hand, that of the second peak was higher (474 °C) than the non-catalytic reaction. The Ea values at each conversion were also decreased when using the catalysts, except olivine. At <0.5 conversion, the Ea obtained from the CP of PP with NZ was lower than that with the other catalysts: Al-MCM-41, bentonite, and olivine, in that order. The Ea for the CP of PP with NZ increased more rapidly, to 193 kJ/mol at 0.9 conversion, than the other catalysts.

Keywords: polypropylene; kinetic analysis; catalytic pyrolysis; bentonite (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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