Real-world post-consumer mixed plastics and a simulated mixture of plastics were processed in a two-stage pyrolysis-catalysis fixed bed reactor in the presence of a Zeolite HZSM-5 catalyst.In addition, single plastic polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and polyethylene terephthalate were also processed in the two-stage reactor. The product yield, composition and hydrocarbon distribution of the product oil was obtained in relation to plastic type. Non-catalytic pyrolysis of the plastics produced a high yield of an oil\wax product in the range, 81-97 wt. %. Addition of the catalyst reduced the yield of oil to between 44-51 wt.%, with an increase in gas yield from cracking of the oil volatiles.However, the condensed oils produced from pyrolysis-catalysis were enriched with lower molecular weight (C 5 -C 15 ) hydrocarbons and were markedly more aromatic in composition with a high proportion of single ring aromatic hydrocarbons. Comparison of the results from pyrolysis and pyrolysis-catalysis of the simulated mixture of plastics with the data obtained for the individual plastics showed that significant interaction between the plastics occurred in the mixture with higher C 2 -C 4 gas yield and higher aromatic content in the oils than expected from the proportions of the individual plastics in the mixture. INTRODUCTIONGlobal energy use is expected to continue to rise over the next two decades, including an increase in the demand for transport fuels. 1 The production of transport fuels from biomass and wastes offers alternatives to the production of liquid fuels from petroleum. One such source for liquid transport fuels is the processing of waste plastics, through "tertiary recycling" which thermally process the waste plastics to produce fuels and chemicals from a material that was originally produced from petroleum.Post-consumer plastic waste generation in Europe is approximately 25 million tonnes per year, of which 6.6 million tonnes are recycled mainly through mechanical recycling, 8.9 million tonnes are processed by energy recovery facilities and 9.6 million tonnes are disposed to landfill. 2 Municipal solid waste contains post-consumer plastics which consist of mainly, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyvinylchloride (PVC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). 3Pyrolysis is a form of tertiary recycling undertaken in the absence of oxygen and leads to the thermal degradation of the plastic. The process of pyrolysis produces cracking of the high molecular weight polymer chain to low molecular weight hydrocarbon oils and gases.Tertiary recycling implies that the product oils and gases can be re-processed at a petroleum refinery to produce liquid fuels, plastics and chemicals. 4 The pyrolysis process for the treatment of waste plastics has been described as one of the most suitable options for the preservation of petroleum resources and an environmentally acceptable treatment of waste. 3,5The pyrolysis of waste plastics has been c...

This is a repository copy of Influence of catalyst bed temperature and properties of zeolite catalysts on pyrolysis-catalysis of a simulated mixed plastics sample for the production of upgraded fuels and chemicals.

Plastic waste collected from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was pyrolysed in the presence of zeolite catalysts to produce a gasoline range aromatic oil. The plastic was from equipment containing cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and also plastic waste from refrigeration equipment. In addition, for comparison the main plastics contained in the WEEE, in the form of high impact polystyrene (HIPS) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) were also pyrolysed in the presence of the zeolite catalysts. Two zeolite catalysts; Y zeolite and ZSM-5 were used. Catalytic pyrolysis took place in a two stage fixed bed, batch reactor with the plastic pyrolysed in the first stage and the evolved pyrolysis gases catalysed in the second stage reactor. The quantity of oil produced from uncatalysed pyrolysis of plastics from CRTs and refridgerators was more than 80 wt%. The gases consisted of hydrogen, methane and C 2 -C 4 hydrocarbons. When the zeolite catalysts were introduced there was a decrease of between 5-10 wt% in oil yield and a corresponding increase in gas yield.The composition of the oils derived from the uncatalysed pyrolysis of WEEE plastics were mainly aromatic with high concentrations of styrene, derived from the HIPS and ABS present in the plastic waste. Addition of the zeolite ZSM-5 and Y zeolite to the pyrolysis process resulted in significant concentrations of benzene, toluene and ethylbenzene in the product oil but reduced concentrations of styrene. The oils from both thermal and catalysed pyrolysis also contained significant concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for example, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene.

Biodiesel production from plant seed oil and animal fat is not a new technologies, though recently searching for alternative renewable sources of fuel is receiving much attention due to global energy demand and increase in environmental pollution. Currently biodiesel is largely produced from edible oil feedstock which may not be sustainable in the longer term due to its competition with food, thus lead to a search for not edible oil feedstock for the production of green fuel. In view of this, homogeneous transesterification of Lageneraria sinceraria seed oil has been carried out using NaOH catalyst at 65 ͦ C with ethanol which produced a good biodiesel yield of 78% with HHV of 36.34 (MJ/Kg), 0.02% low total water and sediment level, 0.80g/cm 3 density, 0.82 g/cm 3 specific gravity, 27.20 g/cm 3 API gravity, 0.44 mg NaOH/g Acid number and 144 o C Flash point. The ethyl ester biodiesel produced, therefore, promises to be a viable source of energy for future use.

Due to the environmental problems caused by the use of fossil fuels, considerable attention has been given to biodiesel production as an alternative to petrol diesel. Biodiesel is ecofriendly, alternative diesel fuel prepared from domestic renewable sources that is, from vegetable oils and animal fats. It is a renewable source of energy which seems to be an ideal solution for global energy demand. In this study, the biodiesel production from kapok (Ceiba pentandra) seed oil with methanol has been considered in the presence of catalyst that is, CaO derived from snail shell. Optimum yield conditions were determined experimentally by changing certain parameters such as reaction time and temperature, at the end of the experiment, the maximum yield of 56.7 % was obtained at 60°C and reaction time of 60 minutes. The physicochemical properties of the produced biodiesel were determined by ASTM procedures and were found to be comparable to ASTM standards for diesel fuel except for acid value which was above the recommended standard. Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) demonstrated the presence of hydrocarbons.