Maximizing olefin production via steam cracking of distilled pyrolysis oils from difficult-to-recycle municipal plastic waste and marine litter

Kusenberg, Marvin; Faussone, Gian Claudio; Thi, Hang Dao; Roosen, Martijn; Grilc, Miha; Eschenbacher, Andreas; Meester, Steven De

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156092

Cited by 39 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Another important result is the low humidity content in agreement with the hydrophobicity of the considered plastics. The main outcome of the ultimate analysis is the high contents of C and H and the very low content of heteroatoms that make the MPL a suitable sample for fuel applications . Although the calculated value of O is null, a content of 0.4 wt % has to be considered on the basis of the polymeric composition of the sample.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a matter of fact, pyrolysis falls into the category of feedstock recycling methods (thermochemical recycling) and is a process whereby an organic material is heated under an inert atmosphere and decomposed into gas, oil, and char, all of them potentially exploitable for the production of fuels or new valuable chemical products. , Since pyrolysis is able to handle highly heterogeneous and not pretreated waste streams as reported in refs and , it has been recognized as a promising method for recycling plastic waste characterized by different polymeric compositions from different product sectors, such as electric and electronic equipment, , packaging, , and the medical or automotive sectors. , Despite the advantages of pyrolysis, a recent review has shown that among 105 small and medium enterprises managing marine plastic waste around the globe, none of the companies adopted pyrolysis treatment . One of the reasons is the scarce number of research studies about the processing of a real and complex waste such as MPL. − …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main outcome of the ultimate analysis is the high contents of C and H and the very low content of heteroatoms that make the MPL a suitable sample for fuel applications. 23 Although the calculated value of O is null, a content of 0.4 wt % has to be considered on the basis of the polymeric composition of the sample. Instead, the Cl content resulted to be slightly higher in comparison to the theoretical amount (0.02 wt %) probably because of residual marine salt.…”

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conversion of Marine Plastic Litter into Chemicals and Fuels through Catalytic Pyrolysis Using Commercial and Coal Fly Ash-Synthesized Zeolites

Cocchi

Cafiero

Angelis

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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A marine plastic litter (MPL) sample, collected during a beach cleanup campaign, underwent thermal and catalytic pyrolyses to demonstrate that valuable hydrocarbon oil and gas can be produced from heterogeneous plastic waste, partly aged and not mechanically recyclable. A low-cost H-X zeolite lab synthesized from coal fly ash (CFA) was tested and compared with two commercial zeolites (H-USY and H-ZSM-5) commonly used in the industrial cracking field. MPL characterization revealed it is mainly composed of polyethylene and polypropylene (52 and 45 wt %, respectively), and it has ideal physicochemical properties as feed for pyrolysis processes. Thermogravimetric analyses demonstrated that catalysts can reduce the degradation temperature of MPL from 472 to 425 °C and from 450 to 421, 342, and 380 °C for H-ZSM-5, H-X/CFA, and H-USY, respectively. These results were confirmed by thermal and catalytic pyrolyses tests performed in a bench-scale reactor. All the catalytic tests were carried out at 450 °C with a liquid phase contact mode. In particular, H-X/CFA, avoiding tar and wax formation, produced up to 87 wt % of light oil with a high content of short chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, obtaining results very similar to those gained with the expensive commercial H-USY. For all the catalytic pyrolysis tests, the produced gases proved to be more than sufficient to sustain the process heat requirement.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conversion of Marine Plastic Litter into Chemicals and Fuels through Catalytic Pyrolysis Using Commercial and Coal Fly Ash-Synthesized Zeolites

Cocchi

Cafiero

Angelis

et al. 2023

ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.

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“…If PE without significant branching was used as a feedstock, a higher fraction of n-paraffins would be anticipated since PE is likely to decompose into linear hydrocarbons. Aromatics in pyrolysis oils formed during pyrolysis and their formation cannot be linked to other polymer resins such as polystyrene in the feedstock since virgin PP is used for pyrolysis to produce oils [ 24 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When pyrolysis is applied to waste PP, it produced a complex mixture of hydrocarbons with low selectivity to desired products (saturated hydrocarbons) and high selectivity to highly reactive olefins that may form deposits on the cracker walls and aromatics that are precursors for coke formation [ 35 ]. Kopinke et al studied the relative rate of coke formation from a variety of 14 C-labeled hydrocarbons using tracer experiments under the experimental conditions of steam cracking of naphtha at 810 °C [ 32 , 33 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Can Pyrolysis Oil Be Used as a Feedstock to Close the Gap in the Circular Economy of Polyolefins?

Erkmen¹,

Ozdogan²,

Çelik

2023

Polymers

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Plastics are engineering marvels that have found widespread use in all aspects of modern life. However, poor waste management practices and inefficient recycling technologies, along with their extremely high durability, have caused one of the major environmental problems facing humankind: waste plastic pollution. The upcycling of waste plastics to chemical feedstock to produce virgin plastics has emerged as a viable option to mitigate the adverse effects of plastic pollution and close the gap in the circular economy of plastics. Pyrolysis is considered a chemical recycling technology to upcycle waste plastics. Yet, whether pyrolysis as a stand-alone technology can achieve true circularity or not requires further investigation. In this study, we analyzed and critically evaluated whether oil obtained from the non-catalytic pyrolysis of virgin polypropylene (PP) can be used as a feedstock for naphtha crackers to produce olefins, and subsequently polyolefins, without undermining the circular economy and resource efficiency. Two different pyrolysis oils were obtained from a pyrolysis plant and compared with light and heavy naphtha by a combination of physical and chromatographic methods, in accordance with established standards. The results demonstrate that pyrolysis oil consists of mostly cyclic olefins with a bromine number of 85 to 304, whereas light naphtha consists of mostly paraffinic hydrocarbons with a very low olefinic content and a bromine number around 1. Owing to the compositional differences, pyrolysis oil studied herein is completely different than naphtha in terms of hydrocarbon composition and cannot be used as a feedstock for commercial naphtha crackers to produce olefins. The findings are of particular importance to evaluating different chemical recycling opportunities with respect to true circularity and may serve as a benchmark to determine whether liquids obtained from different polyolefin recycling technologies are compatible with existing industrial steam crackers’ feedstock.

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Plastic Waste Utilization via Chemical Recycling: Approaches, Limitations, and the Challenges Ahead

Biessey

Vogel

Seitz

et al. 2023

Chemie Ingenieur Technik

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Chemical recycling offers the opportunity to foster the transition towards a circular economy for plastics as a complementary strategy for mechanical recycling. For the implementation of chemical recycling technologies, there are still significant challenges ahead that -besides the definition of binding legal frameworks -need for intensified research: knowledgebased methods for both the identification of suitable process technologies considering decentralized waste conditions and the design of conversion steps and downstream processing are strongly needed for process development and process evaluation.

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Maximizing olefin production via steam cracking of distilled pyrolysis oils from difficult-to-recycle municipal plastic waste and marine litter

Cited by 39 publications

References 77 publications

Conversion of Marine Plastic Litter into Chemicals and Fuels through Catalytic Pyrolysis Using Commercial and Coal Fly Ash-Synthesized Zeolites

Conversion of Marine Plastic Litter into Chemicals and Fuels through Catalytic Pyrolysis Using Commercial and Coal Fly Ash-Synthesized Zeolites

Can Pyrolysis Oil Be Used as a Feedstock to Close the Gap in the Circular Economy of Polyolefins?

Plastic Waste Utilization via Chemical Recycling: Approaches, Limitations, and the Challenges Ahead

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