Experimental Study on Pyrolysis Characteristics of Oil Sludge with a Tube Furnace Reactor

Abstract

Oil sludge (OS) pyrolysis was conducted with a tube furnace reactor. Production distributions and compositions were investigated under different conditions of pyrolysis temperature, heating mode, and atmosphere (N2/CO2). Little change was detected with the product yields of char, oil, and gas when the final temperature exceeded 600 °C. Compared with slow pyrolysis, oil and char yields decreased and gas yield increased in fast pyrolysis. CO2 could promote OS pyrolysis, resulting in a reduction of char yield. SEM images showed that the surface of OS was smooth with a dense texture while the surface of OS char was rough with a well-developed pore structure that formed after pyrolysis. Simulated distillation results showed that light fractions from OS pyrolysis were more than 30% higher than those of oil from OS extraction. With the increase of pyrolysis temperature, light fractions (gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel) in pyrolysis oil decreased. During fast pyrolysis, the heavy fractions produced can be cracked into light fractions. The content of light fractions was 46% compared with 34% for oil from slow pyrolysis. It did not differ much with the oil product distributions from pyrolysis in inert (N2) and CO2 atmosphere. The yields of C4–6 and C6 were higher than those of CH4 in slow pyrolysis between 500 and 700 °C. Fast pyrolysis and CO2 atmosphere favored the conversion of stable macromolecules to short chain methyl compounds, resulting in a higher CH4 yield.

Study on pyrolysis of oil sludge with microalgae residue additive

“…A tube furnace reactor system for OS pyrolysis was designed . The schematic diagram of the system can be seen in Figure .…”

Application and development of pyrolysis technology in petroleum oily sludge treatment

“…A large amount of data shows that the volatile content in oily sludge is extremely high, which can generally reach 30-50% in dry sludge. The content of fixed carbon is relatively low, generally less than 5% [32,33].…”

Thermodynamic model and kinetic compensation effect of oil sludge pyrolysis based on thermogravimetric analysis

“…In China, millions of OS obtained from crude oil exploitation, transportation, and refining have accounted for a greater percentage (approximately 2%) of the mass of crude oil [5]. At present, the most common OS disposal methods at home and abroad are combustion [6,7] and pyrolysis [8,9]. Traditional combustion methods are widely used in solid waste treatment, but they cannot be effectively applied to OS due to the high ash content and low calorific value of OS [10].…”

“…Lots of work regarding the research of OS pyrolysis have been done by researchers, mainly focusing on the properties of OS raw materials, the temperature conditions of pyrolysis, and the influence of reaction catalysts on the yield and composition of pyrolysis products. For example, Gong et al [9] studied the products, distribution and composition of pyrolysis of OS under different pyrolysis temperature, heating method and atmosphere (N2/CO2) conditions. It is found that an increase in the heating rate will lead to a decrease in coke and petroleum yield and an increase in gas yield.…”