A state-of-the-art review on waste plastics-derived aviation fuel: Unveiling the heterogeneous catalytic systems and techno-economy feasibility of catalytic pyrolysis

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an increase in the amount of attention paid in published scientific works to the problems that waste plastics, and the associated issues cause in the land and marine ecosystems. Pyrolysis is a promising method for converting waste polymers into useful products such as aviation fuel oil, and the scientific and business communities have been attempting to commercialize it. Much work has been put into the research and development of efficient catalytic pyrolysis systems. There is, however, a significant gap in writing a cutting-edge review on the catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics to produce aviation fuel oil using the PRISMA technique. The objective of this study is to examine the up-to-date scientific and technological breakthroughs associated with the existing aviation fuel production paths and to identify those that may eventually lead to the construction of a sustainable supply chain fuel. This study focuses on the catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics to enhance aviation fuel oil production, the factors that affect the enhanced pyrolysis activity, such as process conditions, catalyst, kinetics, and mechanistic insights, as well as the technological feasibility analysis of waste plastic pyrolysis and the proposed setup for commercialization of catalytic plastic pyrolysis. It was discovered that catalytic pyrolysis, temperature, and reactor type could be used to simulate an adequate reactor model to attain the highest possible jet fuel efficiency with zeolites, activated carbon, clays, Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC), and metal-based catalysts. It can be concluded that the alterations of reaction conditions significantly impact the overall selectivity and composition of aviation fuel. The production of aviation fuel is essential for attaining technological and economic objectives, and the current research offers numerous effective ways to transform waste plastics straight into transportation jet fuel.